About the Step by Step Art website

​and the artist behind it - Karen M Berisford

---

We created this website back in 2012 to provide a basic information hub for those attending our weekly art classes, which we ran in Chesterfield, Derbyshire (UK). When Karen, who runs this website, moved up to Northumberland in 2014, art workshops continued but they only ran a couple of weekends each year, and so we extended the website to provide others with our own personal knowledge of art techniques, products and advice that other artists may find useful. We continue to build upon the success of this website and hope to provide you with even more content over the coming year, but if you want to find out more about Karen and her plans, read on.

​Hi, I'm Karen and I would like to tell you a little bit about myself and my artistic journey. I have always had a passion for art from a young age. I would happily spend hours with my felt pens and colouring pencils drawing animals, but my favourite subject at that time was birds. I did not enjoy art at school, and although I always received high marks for my homework, I left school in 1990 with an 'E' - had I received a grade lower, I would have failed my exam entirely. Having been diagnosed with ADHD in 2020, my poor grades finally made sense. In 2011, a few months after I lost my mum to Bowel Cancer, I left full-time employment and became a self-employed commission artist and art tutor. Working every day from my home studio and living on the coast in Northumberland is the perfect balance for me. It's peaceful, we have amazing scenery and an abundance of wildlife on the doorstep.

​My art and tutoring

I work with coloured and graphite pencils as well as soft pastels and acrylic paints, but my preferences lean towards coloured pencils and acrylics, whilst still happy to provide tutorials in all these mediums.  Coloured pencils and acrylics are applied very different to each other and I find that changing mediums helps to keep my mind focused.

I began tutoring art back in 2010, when my ex-employer asked me to front a new art group. There were around 30 people all squeezed into a small boardroom, and as nervous as I was having never done it before, I came out buzzing! I left this establishment in 2011 and started a local, weekly art group later that year. These branched out to twice weekly and I also introduced 5 week workshops where those looking to create in-depth art could attend. When I met my partner and moved from my hometown, Chesterfield up to Northumberland, I was unable to continue the regular classes but wanted to carry on tutoring in Chesterfield and so brought in the 1 and 2-day art workshops which run over a weekend in May and August each year.
You can view some images from our past art groups and workshops HERE 

Advice to those new to painting and drawing

Have patience and keep an open mind. I understand that some can become frustrated early on in their art path because they think their piece should look 'perfect' from the moment they begin the outline. Many paintings begin as a 'mess' and what makes a picture is that patience and dedication.....the saying 'Rome wasn't built in a day' is certainly the perfect example of my meaning.  Try many different subjects and mediums....you will find that one in particular will feel more comfortable than others, almost as if you concentrate a little less because the subject seems to flow....this will be where your strengths lie which is good to work with when first starting out and improve upon. 

Future plans for Step by Step Art

Page currently in progress....Information to be added soon.

Promotional & publications

Over the years I have displayed at exhibitions, entered online competitions, been involved with charities and written articles for various magazines. I now spend my time writing online articles as this website continues to grow and with no access to transport, I no longer do exhibitions. Here are a few of the articles that I have written since beginning self employment back in 2011.