Grey rubber erasers and green pencils with silver tops sit beside her. Both utensils smell strongly of graphite, and the pencil tips vary from perfectly pointed to dull and done. One sits between her fingers and palm; it presses against the plain white paper, gliding to and fro with quick, graceful motions. A few flicks upwards, two or three circular motions, some shading around the bottom and an image starts to unfold. Every now and then, she’ll sit back and give a judging look at her drawing. She’ll ask herself it it’s right, if it’s what she wants to replicate from her mind’s image. This immerging artist slaves over her craft, earnestly trying to perfect her technique and style.
All of this happens in a small studio with cold tile floors covered in fallen paint. It’s 1973 and Karen is a junior in college. Her long brown locks, straight as a board, are swept up backwards by a bandanna. Her feet are bare; she discarded her leather sandals by her worn book bag. And as this young woman scribbles and doodles her way to a finished display of her own imagination, Emmylou Harris sings from the radio. The song fits the place; the title “Boulder to Birmingham” sweeps around Karen’s ears as she works on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder, Colorado. It’s the only Emmylou song she’ll remember from her days as an art student. But she’s a fool for the female singer-songwriter; the folk songs of Miss Harris’ future will be Karen’s fuel for the creativity that guides her soul.
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