Karen Belton | Artist

Karen Belton is a self-taught artist and illustrator whose story is rooted in family, resilience, creativity, and the places she has called home.

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The daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, Karen was born in Los Angeles after her parents fled El Salvador during the country's civil conflict in the early 1980s. Her family's journey to the United States came with profound loss; during the conflict, her mother's brother disappeared and was never heard from again.

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Karen spent her early childhood in North Hollywood before moving with her family to Orange County around the age of twelve. After marrying, she and her husband eventually made their home in Riverside, where they have made their home for nearly fifteen years and raised their family.

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Creativity became a defining thread in Karen's life. After teaching herself to decorate cakes for her daughter's third birthday, what began as a way to create something special quickly grew into a career. Karen went from selling custom cakes to working professionally as a cake decorator, pastry designer, and pastry sous chef at the historic Mission Inn, eventually bringing her work to Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship.

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Years later, Karen traded pastry bags for paintbrushes and discovered a new way to tell stories. Inspired by nature, color, imagination, and a lifelong love of whimsical worlds, her work ranges from vibrant wildlife and tropical landscapes to paintings celebrating the places that have become part of her own story. Working across painting, illustration, murals, and public art, Karen brings the same curiosity to every medium—experimenting, building, and finding unexpected ways to bring an idea to life.

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Today, Belton Art Studio is home to that ever-evolving creative world, where Karen explores nature, memory, place, and imagination—and where ordinary moments can become a little more colorful, magical, and full of wonder.

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Selected Experience

The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa — Pastry Designer & Pastry Sous Chef
Casey’s Cupcakes — Cupcake Design & Creative Coordination
Food Network — Holiday Baking Championship Competitor

The Mission Inn Foundation — Selected Artist, 2026 Frank Miller Civic Achievement Award Dinner

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Freelance, Creative & Commission Inquiries

Available for select illustration, character design, painting, public art, commissions, licensing, and creative collaborations.

For availability and project inquiries:

beltonartstudio@gmail.com