Life and her surroundings are constant sources of inspiration for Karla, but as a truly creative artist, she also takes everyday life and recreates it, pieces it together, transforms and manipulates it to create images only a person with inherent creativity could produce – a talent that is as unique as it is rare.
Karla, who simply seems to be an artist by nature, has explored her artistic and creative abilities since she was just a toddler. Her mom, Libby, recalls Karla creating some of her first masterpieces on a Big Chief notebook at the age of two. Eventually her works made their way onto boards, then canvases, then onto furniture, then onto walls – where her work as a muralist has become an intricate part of many homes, lives and businesses for over a decade now.
The second oldest of four children, Karla and her entire family, siblings and parents included, are creatively inclined. Karla’s mother, Libby, paints; her father, John, gardens; her older sister Karri is a writer; her younger brother Cliff has done video editing and her youngest brother Craig works on movie sets, paints furniture and is a tattoo artist. The artistic gene is even present within Karla’s children. Her son Kegan, 18, her son Quinn, 15, and her daughter Riley, 14, are all creative in their own right. Each one of them have been drawing and painting since they were little.
Although being an artist may have seemed like the obvious career choice for Karla, she didn’t make it her profession until later in life. After Karla graduated from Ruidoso High School, she went on to New Mexico State University to study fine arts. After two years at NMSU, she took some time off to work for a newspaper in Ruidoso where her interest in advertising and graphics was sparked. Karla’s time at the newspaper led to her next endeavor, attending the Colorado Institute of Art where she attained an associate’s degree in advertising.
Karla met her future husband, Ty, in Ruidoso, between trying to make a career in Boston (a place she always thought would be a fun place to work) and building her portfolio. It wasn’t until she made her second trip to Boston that she decided she really just wanted to move back to New Mexico and be closer to Ty. After a year of dating, Karla and Ty married. In time, their son Kegan was born and she took on the full-time job as a stay-at-home mom, where she had the opportunity to get reacquainted with her first love – painting.
Her artwork was primarily on canvas and boards, but a lizard drawn on her sons’ bedroom wall was the seed that sprouted her profession as a muralist. A mural of vintage airplanes and teddy bears for her husband’s cousin brought her work into a public sphere where Anne Steele, an El Paso interior designer, caught a glimpse of Karla’s work and knew she had an incredible talent. Anne had Karla do several murals for clients of hers and in no time, Karla was being sought out to do murals in both homes and businesses throughout the region. “Anne was truly instrumental in launching my career as a muralist,” says Karla. Connie Hines, Tom Capron and Laura Stadjuhar were key players in getting Karla’s career going in Las Cruces. She later went on to work with Nancy Charles-Byers, John and Karen Curry and Mitch Hines, all of which allowed Karla’s career to flourish even more.
These days, Karla’s work can be found throughout the borderland. Several years ago, Karla created a jungle-inspired theme for the children’s wing at the Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso. Karla’s work can also be found gracing the walls of Pizazz, a paper, printing, party and present shop in El Paso. Karla, along with Janice Hartog, another local muralist, have collaborated on many projects throughout the Las Cruces area including: Las Cosas Kitchen Shoppe and Toucan Market. Currently Karla and Janice are working on a large project at the Memorial Medical Center, where the two are each picking separate areas to create large, floor-to-ceiling fantasy scenes throughout the children’s wing of the hospital.
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