ART Living In Color

ROGERS — Her hand flicks over the canvas, moving her whole arm with it. She stands when she paints, using her entire body, oftentimes dancing to the music she plays in her home studio.

“I get a workout!” Karrie Evenson says of her fast, energetic style of creating. “It just works for me.”

The full-time artist, wife and mother of three is the host of “Karrie on Canvas,” a painting show, on Jones TelevisionChannel 22, during which she demonstrates her technique.

On the shows, Evenson (the first syllable is pronounced with a long E) encourages viewers to paint with loose and free brushstrokes, “which is maybe the opposite of a lot of artists,” she says.

But that’s exactly where her unique style comes from.

Bold lines. Bright colors.

Surprising pairings. Her works’ characteristics are all reflective of her adventurous, ambitious personality, she says; she loves trying new things and putting together new combinations.

“With my paintings and inmy life, it’s kind of like, why not? Or what if?” she says cheerily.

The self-taught Evenson has done and loved art since she was a child, she says, not wanting anything on Christmas mornings but art supplies. “I really started kind of finding myself in art when I was in high school, and then it just sort of developed from there.”

But it wasn’t until about three years ago that Evenson decided to actively follow her dream of being a professional artist. Her youngest daughter, Mavia, was born with neurofibromatosis - a disorder that causes the growth of tumors in or on the body - which has been hard for the family to deal with, she says. “It was kind of an outlet for me, and I think I just fell in love all over again with art,” she explains.

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Karrie Art

So, really, her 3-year-old is the inspiration behind pursuing her dream, she says. “She’s kind of my little rock.” (Learn more about Mavia and the half-marathons Evenson runs in her honor at runningforourgirl.com.)

Evenson spends three to four days of her work week painting in her studio and the rest of her time marketing her work, she says. So most days when she picks her children up from school, “I’m always covered in paint,” she says. The kids think that’s pretty cool. So does she.

“I’m lucky,” she says of being a professional artist.

Viewers can watch Evenson easily and unabashedly whip together bright explosions of art on “Karrie on Canvas” at 7:30 p.m. on Monday and Saturday evenings on Channel 22 or anytime online at YouTube.com.

She enjoys showing people how accessible art can be. “If I mess up, then I let people know,” she says. “I think that makes a lot of people more comfortable with painting ... not be so afraid to not be perfect.”

Because even with imperfections, things can still be beautiful.