Mississippi Landscapes

Mississippi Landscape Painting Exhibition showcases the beauty and diversity of the state’s natural scenery through the eyes of Karen Bennett, Susan Busby, and John Carvalho. The exhibition features a wide array of artworks from serene riverbanks and rolling hills to vibrant sunsets and dance forests.

Exhibition shows June 4 – 27 on Thursdays from 11 am – 3 pm

Presented in partnership with the Hattiesburg Arts Council, with support from Forrest County and the Montague Fund for the Arts

About Karen Bennett

Karen is an award-winning Studio and Plein Air Artist. She is married to her wonderful husband, Danny, and they live on their 4th-generation farm in South Mississippi. They are blessed with four beautiful daughters and three sons (in-laws), including a bonus granddaughter. Most of Karen’s inspiration comes from the great outdoors of their family farm and the many travels with her husband and their two puppy children. ‘My desire is for the viewer to see, feel, and hear the peacefulness of the pastoral scene. 

She has studied and mentored under renowned artists from across the nation and is a member of local and national art associations. Karen’s artwork has appeared on HGTV’s ‘Hometown’ and is represented by Pacesetter Gallery in Flowood, MS, and Arts District Studio in Natchez, MS.

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About Susan Busby

I am Susan Chakiris Busby. I was raised in northeastern Pennsylvania. After high school graduation I attended Arizona State University for 1 year. After living in the desert for 7 years, I met my husband and spent a brief time in the Pacific northwest before moving to southeast Mississippi. My background is as a photographer, an arts educator and a painter. 

I have worked in watercolor and acrylic in the past and am currently enjoying working in cold wax and oil both on birch panel and yupo paper in a semi realistic and impressionist style.

My vision for my paintings comes from 45 years of living a rural life in the woods which has entailed growing food, herbs and flowers and raising children and farm animals. I have also spent many years exploring the marshes and waterways of South Mississippi along the beautiful Gulf coast and sailing to our beautiful barrier islands. My art originates from paying attention to the natural world of light, reflections, shadows, textures and colors that surround us in nature. I translate what I see in the three-dimensional world onto a two-dimensional surface focusing on a more impressionistic style. 

Currently I’m exploring the medium of cold wax and oil on various backgrounds. Cold wax is composed of natural bees wax, gamsol and a small amount of Danmar resin. When mixed with oil paint it turns into a creamy mix which can be used as is or reduced to a glaze by adding galkid. This method is not defined by subject matter nor the degree of realism or abstraction but by layers of paint and experimentation. I’m playing with it’s potential for illusion and imagery through layers of color and texture by drawing into the various layers to expose the colors of the underlayers. This method allows me to imply detail and dimension and to bring vision to life whether I’m painting from a photograph or from my imagination.

My journey has won several awards and accomplishments with the latest being accepted as a member of the Mississippi Art Colony and being awarded the Becky Feder Award for Artistic Achievement. I have also been accepted as a member in the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washinton D.C. and was accepted as a participant in the Meridian Museum of Art Annual Juried Competition for the past two years. My work has been in the Eula Bass Gallery, the Lucile Parker Gallery and is currently a part of the Mississippi Art Colony Traveling Show. I will be having a solo show of my work in August at the Eula Bass Gallery as well as a solo show in Vicksburg at Mississippi College in January. I am a board member of the Hattiesburg Arts Council and a member of the Lauren Rogers Art Museum, the Ohr Okeefe Museum and the Mississippi Museum of Art.

About John Carvalho

Born and raised in Denver, CO, John earned his BFA in Painting and Printmaking at Washington University in St. Louis, and his MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, MD, studying under Grace Hartigan and Archie Rand. John returned to school and earned a BS in Nursing at Georgetown University. He then worked as an ER nurse in an urban hospital north of Washington, DC. During all this, he did squeeze in studio time and shows of his work. Upon retirement to rural Mississippi with his husband, John’s work focuses on aspects of place/nature, toying with finding meaning in the mundane. John paints primarily in oils on linen.