Art Path

About Karen Filthaut

I am an award-winning professional artist and educator with more than 40 years of experience working in oil, acrylic, pastel and drawing media. I am President of the Sylvan Lake Art Society and spent four years bringing creative art experiences to residents of seniors’ communities through Creative Hearts.

My interest in the relationship between art and well-being is also deeply personal. Following a liver transplant and four major surgeries, I recovered physically but later developed post-traumatic stress disorder. During that difficult period, returning to art became an important part of finding my way back to optimism, connection and a sense of self.

That experience changed my understanding of why we create. I began looking beyond the finished artwork to what was happening during the act of creating—the focus, movement, sensory engagement, emotional expression and relief I experienced. This curiosity ultimately led me to develop Art Path and Expressive Mark Mapping. I am particularly interested in the emerging field of NeuroArts and in opportunities to collaborate with researchers and practitioners to better understand, evaluate and responsibly develop creative practices that can support human health and well-being.