Karen Foss left the anchor desk nine years ago. While journalism is still her first love, retirement has given her time to follow her other passion: art.
You know her as the anchor who brought you the news for almost 30 years, but here's something you don't know.
"I would do doodles on the set, you know, during commercials and things I'd be drawing Mike Bush or Cindy Preszler, or whoever I was sitting with I'd be sketching," says Karen.
Now, here in her art studio at her Santa Fe home, Karen Foss is tapping into something much richer: creating pastel landscapes and portraits.
Photos on mobile: Karen Foss' artwork
Santa Fe is a mecca of American art and artists. And Karen says it was this stimulating environment that drew her here. In fact, she sees a definite connection between her love of art and her career in television.
It wasn't until she moved to Santa Fe in 2011 that she would find the time to return to this other passion in her life.
Photos on mobile: Tour Karen Foss' Santa Fe home
"I know this sounds morbid," says Karen, "but I had the sense I had limited time and I didn't want to die at the anchor desk. I wanted to do some other things and one of them was to get back to painting. Which I had done as a college student, so it was time for me I knew to make some choices or I would run out of time."
Now, she's a student again. Enrolling in workshops given by prominent artists like Doug Dawson, whose art hangs in Karen's favorite gallery in Santa Fe, called Ventana. But as she always found during her career in television, it's the interesting, energetic people she's met that she values the most.
Photos on mobile: Artwork of Santa Fe, New Mexico
"It's worked out to be a really good life for me," says Karen. "And of course you never really know when you take a leap like that, but I'm really happy here."
Don't be surprised if you see Karen around town.
She gets back to St. Louis every few months to visit family.
Photos on mobile: Karen Foss through the years
