Karl was born in Cornwall in 1964. His interest in wildlife in general and birds in particular began at an early age and by eleven, with much encouragement from his parents, he was a budding ornithologist.
He combined his passion for wildlife with an interest in art, attending Carmarthenshire College of Art where he won an award for outstanding achievement in wildlife illustration. After graduating he moved to Bristol to become a freelance artist/illustrator whilst still maintaining his interest in art and wildlife.
In 1992 he exhibited at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, a first for a wildlife artist, which led to commissions for their permanent collection. He has three times been 'Artist in Residence' at the Nature in Art Museum in Gloucestershire, through which he entered and won the Artist Magazine Nature in Art award in 1998. He has also been a regular exhibitor at the Wildlife Art Society, winning awards for his innovative approach in 1996 and 2000.
Karl regards his finest achievement to date as having been selected eleven times for the prestigious annual 'Birds in Art' exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin, USA. "To have your work chosen from over 1,000 applicants from all over the world is a great honour and on several occasions I was the only British representative in the exhibition".
Although he mainly paints birds it is such an individual approach that would be wrong to place Karl in the category of a traditional wildlife artist. While the birds are portrayed accurately in a representational style it is the manner in which they feature within the composition that is so different. They give to all his paintings a focal point with which he creates an interesting relationship between the bird and its natural environment.