TAC Member Highlight: Karin Cermak

From engineering blueprints to expressive abstraction, Karin Cermak’s journey is anything but linear.

Born in Germany, with formative years spent in Czechoslovakia and later Canada, Cermak eventually found a permanent home in the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen after a 30-year career as a mechanical engineer designing plumbing and air conditioning systems. Art, however, was quietly waiting in the wings.

The true turning point came in 1990, after a move to Dayton, Ohio. There, a chance connection with artist Becky Szanto opened a new door. An invitation to her studio—and to a collective of working artists—sparked what would become a second, deeply fulfilling career. While Cermak had early exposure to drawing and painting through general education in Prague, this moment marked the shift from interest to intention.

Her early work leaned toward decorative painting: trays, furniture, wooden objects, even T-shirts. But curiosity and ambition pushed things further. Formal studies followed, including drawing classes with Joan Clark at Wright State University and painting and drawing courses at Sinclair Community College. From there, Cermak fully committed to life as a working visual artist.

Eclecticism defines her practice. Moving fluidly between media and styles, Cermak’s work ranges from traditional realism to Art Deco and Cubist influences, though the strongest creative pull lies in contemporary and abstract art. That’s where freedom lives—freedom to experiment, to bend rules while still honoring balance, color harmony, contrast, and texture.

Repetition has never been appealing; switching styles keeps the process alive. “I get bored if I paint only in one style,” Cermak says, “I have to alternate them. Some of my artworks are 3 dimensional using different pieces of wood or other materials in combination with acrylic painting.”

In 1995, another move—this time to Muskogee, Oklahoma—introduced a new chapter of artistic and civic engagement. Joining the Muskogee Art Guild (MAG), the artist became deeply involved, serving as secretary, vice president, and program chairman. As a European newcomer to Oklahoma, Native American culture and Western themes left a strong impression, inspiring a series of paintings featuring Native figures, cowboys, and horses—many of which traveled back to Europe with friends and family.

Community involvement became a defining thread in her work. In Muskogee alone, Cermak painted guitars for the “Muskogee Rhythm” public art project, designed a logo for Women Who Care (a breast cancer fundraising organization), created annual banners for the Azalea Festival, donated work to animal rescue auctions, and contributed art installations for the Civic Center.

Tulsa became her home in 2006, but the momentum only grew. Cermak joined multiple organizations—including Tulsa Artists Guild, Tulsa Artists’ Coalition, and Alpha Rho Tau Civic Art Association—once again stepping into leadership roles. Art continued to serve as a vehicle for giving back, with donated works supporting causes such as colon cancer awareness, youth shelters, senior centers, and arts fundraising initiatives like Tulsa Artists’ Coalition’s popular 5x5 exhibition.

Her exhibitions have been both prolific and wide-ranging: group shows across Oklahoma, solo exhibitions at venues like Canebrake Resort and the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, and two-person exhibitions at the Tulsa PAC Gallery, Circle Cinema Gallery, and Metro TCC Gallery. Cermak’s work has appeared at the Philbrook Museum’s Festival of Trees for multiple years, with proceeds benefiting the museum, and remains a familiar presence at the Utica Square Art Show each October.

Over time, the work itself has evolved—moving decisively away from decorative and strictly representational painting toward abstraction and contemporary expression. In these styles, Cermak finds space for spontaneity, emotional honesty, and endless possibility. Her goal is no longer to replicate what is seen, but to express what is felt.

Awards and private collections across the U.S. and Europe speak to her work’s reach, but Cermak measures success more personally. “If a viewer connects with me through my art,” Cermak shares, “as it was created just for him/her, that’s the biggest award for me.”

At its core, her practice remains rooted in contribution: to culture, to community, and to the shared human experience. Art is not a phase or a second act—it is, and always will be, a way of life.

Follow Karin Cermak:

http://www.tag-tulsaartistsguild.com/karin-cermak.html