In the Studio
Why Art?
I have always been a creative maker of things, gathering stones, twigs and moss to build fantasy villages, pocketing dead bugs or feathers for my collection of supplies, and looking at little things that are normally passed by. Memories from places I've lived hold images that I collage together in my mind to develop the content that finds its way onto a canvas. I paint the feelings and emotion of my experience in those places.
With acrylic, mixed media, or oil paint, I create imaginary or inspired landscapes and abstract images using bold colors and sensuous shapes. From a barn in the farmlands of Michigan, or a river barely breaking the surface of the desert in Arizona, the abstracted landscapes tell the stories of my life. In the end, we all just become memories.
Karon resides in NW Michigan with her dog, Risa.
About Karon
Karon Leigh is an an artist who creates with an intuitive process, allowing the creative flow to direct the art making experience. Her paintings are based on dreams, memories, and often inspired by the landscape and the weather from the desert of southern Arizona to the lakes of Michigan. Following the path of the expressionist painters, those who attacked their canvases with a vigorous gestural expressionism, her art is grounded in personal experience.
Karon grew up with a full 64 box of Crayola crayons but never satisfied, studied almost every art form she could get her hands on. Kind of a loner and not much of a joiner, she found that art classes not only fueled her passion but kept her out of trouble in her youth. No matter where or how she lived throughout her adult life, she found a time and a place for art-making. She grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and then split her time between the California Bay area and Michigan. She was an award winning artist in high school and went on to study art at California College of Arts & Crafts, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Kirkland Art Center as well as with numerous professional artists.
She spent 16 years in Southern Arizona before she found her way back to Michigan in 2025, a place that always felt like home where water, landscape, and the changing seasons continue to inspire her work.
A “get a real job” detour resulted in a degree in Computer Science and later certification in Multi-Media Website Design, and in 2017, she earned an M. S. in Integrated Marketing Communications.
In addition to her commitment to art making, she works with artists, small businesses, and nonprofits providing marketing services, website and graphic design, consulting and coaching. - KaronLeighDesign.com