Karla Mann grew up in a small town in the state of Washington. Her passion for drawing started at a very early age. She continued as a self-taught artist until she entered Tidewater Community College in 1991, the same year her son entered College. After receiving an Associate of Fine Art with honors from Tidewater Community College in 1994, she continued her education at Old Dominion University. She graduated Suma Cum Laude from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in 1997. Karla has taught at the Visual Arts Center of Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, Virginia and is at present teaching at the Contemporary Arts Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The medium of choice for Karla is oil, but she is very adept at colored pencil, and even sculpture.

Karla has won numerous scholarships and national and international awards for her work. She has been published in the “Best of Colored Pencil, Volume Five, the Daniel Smith Catalog, and Art Wanted.com, Creative Minds. Her commissioned and sold works are in collections from Italy to the USA.