Front Image:
The image on the front of the card is a digital print from my original painting

Back Information:
The back of the card has information about this series and includes a picture and information about the artist, Karen Cornelius.

Card Specs:
Each 4.25x5.5in card features a printed exterior, a writable blank interior, and comes with a white envelope.

About This Work:
This painting is part of my Wild Beauty at Risk series, inspired by my artist residency at AIR Ubud in Bali. After receiving a grant from the Manitoba Arts Council just before the pandemic lockdown, I waited two years before finally travelling to Bali in April 2022.

The AIR Ubud residency was extraordinary. Our river room had soaring ceilings and wide windows opening directly into the jungle, and the community studio where I painted every day was open to the rainforest on one side. Surrounded by the lush sights, sounds, and scents of the jungle, I immersed myself in the wonder of this tropical environment.

During the residency, I created large 9-foot drawings and paintings on nylon and Tyvek, experimenting with local dyes that change colour in sunlight and traditional sustainable dyes made from native plants and trees. I allowed the staining of dyes on nylon to bleed into the Tyvek, creating rich, abstract foundations for my work.

I sketched at every opportunity—hiking into rainforest gorges, pausing for a cool drink, wandering through the sacred Monkey Forest, and exploring waterfalls with my family on weekends. One unforgettable sketching session even happened during a torrential downpour, deep in a rainforest gorge by the river.

The focus of this project was to record the remnants of once-great tropical jungles. I want viewers to fall in love with the awe-inspiring beauty of the jungle—and to care enough to preserve and protect what remains.

These paintings are a love letter to the tropical jungles, both the ones I explored in the Eastern Java-Bali Rainforest in Indonesia and the ones I carry within me from my childhood in the Congo. They are born of gratitude, urgency, and wonder: an invitation to fall in love with the wild beauty that remains, and to fight for its survival.

Let us embrace the magic of the rainforest and commit ourselves to be stewards of the earth's precious trees and forests. Together, we can ensure their preservation for generations to come.

You can purchase this card to send a message to your friend or family. If you purchase 4 cards, I will package them in a gift box ready to give to a friend.

How It Was Made:
This card is a digital reproduction of my painting.   I photograph the original painting and have a local printer create a high-quality card. Please note: colours may appear slightly different on screen than on your art card.

For Winnipeg orders please select “PICK UP” in step 2 of the checkout process to bypass shipping costs.

Follow my creative journey on Instagram @cornelius.karen

All artwork is copyrighted by Karen Cornelius. Copyright and reproduction rights remain that of the artist. Artwork cannot be reproduced in any way.