Kathy Bonnema Leslie

BIGFORK, MT

Kathy Bonnema Leslie, a Colorado native, makes her permanent home in Montana where she has maintained a studio since 1994. Her work has been exhibited in numerous one woman and group shows across the country. Selected juried exhibits include: The San Diego Watercolor Society International Exhibition, The Taos National Exhibit of American Watercolor, The Midwest Watercolor Society National Exhibition and Watercolor West National Exhibition.  Select publications include 102 Artists of the Rocky Mountain West, and Painters of the Tetons. Ms. Leslie was awarded the University of Northern Colorado Visual Art Scholarship where she completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts. Other honors include selection for presentation to the Governor of Colorado, finalist selected for exhibition by Artist Magazine, experimental category, and selected exhibitor with the Smithsonian ARTrain. Notable collectors include the State of Colorado, Colorado State University and Marin Community Medical Center, San Francisco.

As a painter and printmaker, Kathy’s work is the visual language in which she sees the world. She has always been greatly affected by her natural surroundings and is intrigued by the power they have over feelings and our sense of place. She gravitates to patterns and color relationships in nature, and her compositions initially unfold based on those elements. For Kathy, it is important to not only paint the subject, but the air between herself and the subject, creating a sense of atmosphere, space and feel. She prefers to work in a “series” as it allows her to explore ideas more fully and to create something contemplative, reflective and celebratory for the viewer; something as simply beautiful as the world she sees around her.