From Writing Stories to Painting Stories — the Journey
by Karma Kitaj | Blogging | Jul 6, 2026
"I'm Getting Outa Here" — painting by Karma Kitaj.
When I began painting, I was already immersed in writing my first novel, Beguiled. Writing a historical novel takes a lot of research in various archives where the original material is stored, often in public or university libraries. This work fascinated me, digging out documented information about the real people in my story. I couldn't meet them, as I did for my two non-fiction books where I interviewed, taped and transcribed their stories. I had to rely on what others said about my real characters — or what they themselves said or wrote about themselves many years ago.
As I recall the experience, I remember it was quite visual. I saw them in the environments they described. I imagined the colors, the landscape, the homes they lived in and places they traveled. I could picture their stories coming to life in front of my eyes. And I tried to put that on paper — or on the computer as I wrote.
Later when I began to take my art work seriously, to devote more time to that exclusively, rather than write yet another novel, I was struck with the confluence of the two processes: writing stories and painting stories. My early paintings were pretty abstract, but of course viewers often saw figures and shapes that suggested objects or natural environments.
When COVID came around, I felt compelled to document my idea of what humans were going through. That's how the human figure started to appear in my paintings. The figures told a story, much as my writing had done, but only in a visual sense. The humans in my paintings rarely try to resemble real people or photographs of people. My preference has been to depict my humans in a distorted sense, with colors and shapes and postures that the camera would not capture. They demonstrate something about the way I view my people, with their own unique attributes.
I wonder what you will see when you look at some of my art work and whether you see the correspondence with my descriptions of the characters in my novels.
You may view my paintings at KitajArt.com and also at SaatchiArt.com/KarmaK. In the Saatchi website, I have posted little stories about how I came about creating each painting, to give the context. I very much enjoyed writing those stories, so I guess I'm still a writer.
I'm curious to know how you experience the connection between my two loves: writing fiction and painting fiction. I answer all your comments on my website or if you email me.
"Woman in Green Chair" — oil by Karma Kitaj.