About the Artist
Karen Wilkinson is a self-trained artist
who been entertaining others with her doodles, stories, and multimedia
creations since she was old enough to eat a Crayola. In her youth,
she was known (primarily among her younger cousins) as the creator of
the One-Thousand-In-One
Machine1, the Gravity-Inversion
Bilgil2, and the Fred
and Seymour Show3, as well as the author/artist of the
long-running stick-figure comic strip Carl
and His Ball4.
Karen has long since given up her budding
career as an international diplomat,
but she still engages in a wide variety of creative
activities. Her more recent artistic pursuits include a
3-year stint as author/artist of the comic strip Hill
Valley for The
Montague Reporter (which she recently
revived--see ALL-NEW EPISODES HERE
and in the Montague Reporter), a sporadically-updated web photocomic entitled
Divas, Inc. (which is currently offline due to space constraints,
but will hopefully return soon) and a variety of adventures in
stained glass, mosaic, wood, fabric, and many other media.
Karen lives in Massachusetts with her
husband, Dan (who helps to ensure that her occasional forays into home
decorating are as functional as they are creative), and her dog, Cozzie
(who keeps her from permanently fusing with her computer chair by
frequently reminding her that he still needs food, water, and walks).
- 1The
One-Thousand-In-One Machine: Cunningly disguised
as a rolling typewriter table, the One-Thousand-In-One Machine was
one of Karen's favorite inventions. She oversaw its creation
from beginning to end, personally producing 1) an instruction manual
for several dozen of its most important uses (e.g.,
"Burglar-Stopping Machine: Throw at Burglar"); 2) an
ownership certificate; and 3) a very realistic-looking check (which,
though used by her younger cousin to purchase the prototype, was
unfortunately later found to be non-negotiable).
- 2The
Gravity-Inversion Bilgil: Used as a form of
transportation by the inhabitants of Dragonland, who were known to
send political maps and communiqués to Karen and her cousin by
means of the front hall closet. Karen's cousin actually made
arrangements to learn to fly a bilgil at one point, and went so far
as to obtain a study diagram of one of its hundreds of control
panels, but his studies were tragically interrupted by the
now-infamous Dragonland Wars. After that, the two
children focused their efforts on providing Dragonland with the
necessary raw material (i.e., sheets of aluminum foil) to power its
weapons and prevail over its enemies.
- (Although
she achieved great success in her diplomatic missions to
Dragonland, Karen unfortunately failed in her later attempt to
declare the front hall closet an independent nation, and to thereby
levy a tax on everyone passing through the front door.)
- 3The
Fred and Seymour Show: Known and loved by at least one
generation of Karen's cousins, puppet show hosts Fred and Seymour
quickly became known for their wacky brand of humor and for their
elaborate sets and props, all of which are perhaps best
characterized by the now-infamous Electric Garbage Can skit.
Unfortunately, the show was later racked by scandal when it was
revealed that its resident band, called The Muffies, were actually
lip-synching to pre-recorded music, and that their dancing and
instrument "playing" was controlled by tiny wires attached
to Karen's fingers.
- 4Carl
and His Ball: A comic strip featuring a
human character named "Ball" and a talking beachball named
"Carl," with regular guest appearances by Mommy Ball.
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