Karen Nelson is a student at The College at Brockport, State University of New York, where she is currently in her last semester of her B.F.A. course of study in painting. She lives in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, and is a mother as well as a volunteer Firefighter. Her oil paintings reflect her innermost thoughts and feelings, as well as illustrate the influence of her home, life, and firefighting experiences. The open, abstract shapes of her paintings reflect the loose, meandering paths of mental thoughts, reducing contemplations from reason to emotion. She aspires to have her works in major collections and museums nationally, and eventually to obtain her M.F.A. and teach.