Karen MacKenzie is a native of the Pacific Northwest and studied at The Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. There she was introduced to the East/West influence seen in the artworks of her predecessors 'The Northwest Mystics' (Morris Graves, Mark Toby, Kenneth Callahan, Guy Anderson and Leo Kenney). She worked closely with Charles Stokes (who was mentored by Leo Kenney, and could be considered a continuation of the Northwest Group).
Karen has developed her vision and skills over the years working in the field of illustration and graphic design, along with teaching workshops to adults and providing art camps for children. In recent years she studied further with the well known illustrator Dan Dos Santos (Marvel, Universal Studios, Tor Books, etc) which rounded out her approach to painting and illustration.
Currently Karen is working on a new collection, and is finding herself circling back around to her roots in the Pacific Northwest and the legacy of the NW Mystics.