Hello! My name is Karah Sullivan, but I use my nickname KarahBell for my art and sign all my painting with it. My path into painting has been anything but traditional, I like to say I’m “mostly self-taught.” I learned by diving into paintings, binge-watching YouTube tutorials, and even taking an online class at the New York Grand Central Atelier to really understand how to work with oil paints. Along the way, I became a patron of the Florence Academy of Art, where I soaked up lectures and painting demonstrations, and I asked a very patient artist friend far too many questions.

Art has always been a thread in my life. My grandmother, who held a PhD in Art History and taught at USC and San Clemente Community College, often shared her passion with me. She took me to museums, invited me to her lectures, and let me tag along on her group tours at The Huntington Library in Pasadena California, which is still my favorite museum today.

I’ve always admired the Old Masters like Rembrandt, Henri Fantin-Latour, Caravaggio, Rubens and I’m inspired to create the kind of work I’d want to live with myself: timeless, personal, and meaningful.

I first picked up oils in 2019, during the Covid quarantine, at a moment when life was shifting for me in a big way. Around the same time, I went through a Myasthenic Crisis that left me disabled. I live with Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome, a rare neuromuscular condition, and now spend much of my time in bed with the support of a ventilator. Painting quickly became more than a hobby, it became my joy, my peace, and my way of still feeling that I can contribute something meaningful. Through my art, I also hope to shine some light on this condition. (Click here if you’d like to learn more.)

I grew up in Orange County, spent nearly three years living in Italy, and am now happily back in Southern California with my family, always learning, still painting, and still chasing beauty wherever I can find it.