Karen Strang studied painting at Glasgow School of Art, and postgraduate study in fine art at the Academy of Fine Arts , Warsaw. After travel scholarships in Central Europe  she returned to Scotland in the late 80s  where she became the youngest advisory panel member for the then Scottish Arts Council and a member of the Transmission Gallery board.

She has had residencies in Berlin and Oronsko. In 2010 she was awarded a Creative Scotland travel study grant to research Rimbaud in Paris and Charleville which culminated in an exhibition of paintings at the University of Stirling . She is a professional member of the Society of Scottish Artists and the Glasgow Society of Women Artists. Recent solo exhibitions include the Lillie Gallery in 2018 and Firestation Creative , Dunfermline in 2019. In 2020 she was invited by Artlink Central to exhibit her series of Covid Key worker portraits at Forth Valley Royal Hospital. Her latest book of life Drawings and poetry by her model May Queen  “Conversations in the Studio” has just been published by Heather Ann Dowd. Karen spent her early childhood in Perth and Dunning,  she now lives in Stirling and her studio is in Alloa.