Born on September 24th in Val-de-Marne (on the outskirts of Paris), Karen Petit did her preliminary education in the south of France, moving to central France for middle school.
At 21, she moved to the UK to study English, where she passed her 3 exams from Cambridge University, then worked as a hostess at London’s Gatwick airport. After 5 years, she decided to move to Annecy, the city of her heart.

Well known through her past exhibitions in St Barthelemy where she has lived since 2003, Karen, although a young painter, has shared her talent with us for many years. Her training at CEPIADE, Boulogne's school of Decorative Arts (instructed by a teacher of the Van Der Kelen school in Brussels), first led her to decorative art. She passionately studied the techniques of trompe l’oeil, fresco, wood effect and marble effect. Among her numerous works are several of substantial size (up to 7 meters) created for both private collectors and prestigious companies. Her works are found in Paris, Annecy, Montpellier, Geneva, Marrakech, Essaouira, Guadeloupe, Tahiti and in various ski resorts such as Megève, Courchevel 1850, Arcs 1950 as well as in St Barth.

A “painter traveler”, her escapes have inspired a various series of paintings which display her sense of color and composition.Her curious, eager but discreet nature, as well as her taste in decorative art, is represented by these paintings. They demonstrate a sense of outer immensity as viewed from inside. This vision represents a vast, open and sometimes disturbing world.