Painting and performing surgery have a lot in common, says Karen Rosenkrantz, SMFA Studio Diploma student and retired M.D.

According to Karen Rosenkrantz, surgery and painting draw on similar skills and ways of thinking.

And she should know. A Harvard-trained surgeon, Rosenkrantz performed hundreds of surgeries before taking time off to raise three children. Now she’s a student at the Museum School, where she’s wielding a paint brush instead of a scalpel.

“Surgeons and painters share a similar mind-set,” Rosenkrantz notes. “Both surgery and art involve thinking and using your hands to build something, and, like painting, surgery is not entirely driven by textbook knowledge. It too involves a certain amount of creativity.”

At the Museum School, Rosenkrantz is working primarily with oil paints, though her previous artwork mostly involved drawing. “I love the fact that it’s so free,” she says of the all-elective Studio Diploma Program. “No one’s telling me what to take.”

Rosenkrantz’s work focuses on contemporary social interactions and group dynamics. “I take photographs of people who are surrounded by other people but not making contact,” she explains. “Then I make paintings from those photographs.” 

Already, she’s sold a number of paintings through student exhibition opportunities at the Museum School. “It’s easy to get your work out there, at open studios, the December Sale, and other events,” she comments. “I have had no problem selling my work.”