Kathleen Katon Tonnesen

Kathleen Katon Tonnesen (14 July, 1963) is a Canadian painter (signed as Katon), sculptor, author, poet, and inventor. She was born in Cape Town, South Africa (Kathleen Peers), and immigrated to Canada in 1998. She has carved a professional career as a working artist since 1990 and is a respected international artist dedicated to the enhancement of public spaces with meaningful and thought provoking art. Kathleen holds a Bachelor of Arts, Psychology degree from Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia, Canada.

Kathleen is excited by energy and ideas. She has developed a mixed media, multidisciplinary approach to her artworks, installations and live productions. She is available as a motivational guest speaker; as an art workshop facilitator; and as a "Beginner Magic Tricks" workshop facilitator for teachers and Early Childhood Educator professional development. Kathleen strives to find creative ways to overcome life's obstacles including those pertaining to her personal health. For example, after four years of emotionally adjusting to vision loss she has rehabilitated herself by practicing the intensely focused martial art discipline of Yoshinkan Aikido. Anecdotally, she maintains that this discipline has aided her in being able to train her right eye to read again and to be able to draw and paint again. For this she is grateful, as her left eye has low vision. Thus, Kathleen is forging a new pathway forward in 2023 where her new works reflect her ongoing vision improvement and insights regarding light angles and human interactions and connectivity sans sight.