Having previously completed a Diploma of Business and working in payroll, Karen Rogers changed her lifestyle and career through art and training. Karen studied Visual Art at Batchelor Institute, inspired by her grandmother and sisters, who were all artists. She works with textiles, glass and canvas and is currently working on animation. She loves learning new skills and different art forms. In 2018, she was artist in residence at Glassworks, Canberra, and in 2020 she received a Creative Fellowship from Arts NT.

Today Karen is an artist and is employed by the Ngukurr Aboriginal Art Corporation as salesperson and director. She continues to apply an entrepreneurial mindset to her creative arts practice, to pursue projects that are not only allow for creative and cultural expression but are also commercially viable.

She says that new ways to express stories, culture and identity using business models that capitalise on technology advances must be integral in formal training.

In 2021, Karen released a new book for children telling bilingual family stories and sharing traditional knowledge with young readers. 

‘Main Abija My Grandad’ was written by Karen Rogers, it is the long-time artist’s first picture book, and she created both the words and the illustrations.