Karen Fox - Kingston Ontario Artist
Visual Artist
I was born into a family of draftsmen and doodlers. From sketches of my grandfather's clotheslines, my dad's mermaids to my older brother's cars, we were constantly entertaining one another. My dad told me the only difference between us was the grade of graphite we used. Their pencils being a hard graphite that gave them precise lines to my softer ones that allowed me to play. So at a young age I wanted to become an "Artist" whatever that entailed? My desire never diminished no matter what hurdles I needed to jump.
Fortunately, I was raised in Toronto which offered me the opportunity to attend Western Technical Commercial Secondary School's four year Commercial Art Program at the tender age of 13. After four years of intensive daily art instruction I graduated with honours and received a scholarship to study Illustration, in the very first year it was offered at Sheridan College in Oakville.
In January of 1978 I started working at the Kingston Whig Standard as their first full time artist in the retail advertising department. I spent eleven happy years illustrating and designing ad campaigns that included the Downtown Kingston Business Association. In 1979, Frank Edwards, the Whig's very own political cartoonist, joined me in the Creative department. Spending time with Frank was a happy continuation of my artistic education.
In January of 1989 I moved back to Toronto where I was hired by Andy Donato as a staff artist in the editorial art department at the Toronto Sun. Before computers were a common sight around the office we had eighteen artists working full time to put the paper to bed. A highlight for myself, was being one of three artists that illustrated the Max Haines True Crime Flashback column. The research for each of Max's weekly columns was both interesting and educational. It was a hectic work environment as we were on daily deadlines.
As a retired illustrator now working in oils, my subject matter is quite varied, similar to my encounters while working. Those newspaper deadlines taught me how to work through the million little decisions an artist makes during each painting, be it large or small. Some works paint themselves, while others can leave you completely stymied and that’s where you dig in and summon up the experience from your whole career for help.
Frank Edwards and I still paint together and we can often be found outdoors in Kingston and the surrounding area painting in many types of weather. We are also both in-house artists at Gallery Raymond in downtown Kingston, at 334 Princess Street. In addition, we are members of The Creative Brushes, an art group that usually meet every Wednesday morning to paint together. While art critics talk of colour, line and form, we talk of where to buy art supplies and how to take care of that favourite brush!
My 5 year old grandson now draws and paints constantly. He has told one of his Uncles that he and his grandmother are both artists! There is no greater honour than to have influenced a child to "see".
