I am a scientific and medical illustrator by training; I hold a Master of Science in Biomedical Communications (MScBMC) degree from the University of Toronto. Since 2004 I have been a full-time Professor in the Bachelor of Illustration program at Sheridan College in Oakville (near Toronto), Canada.

For well over two decades, I have also worked part-time with Hull and Train Exhibits (formerly Hall Train Studios Ltd), one of the world’s most respected specialty suppliers of original natural history exhibitry, where I have been fortunate to work on a range of projects for leading museums, science centers, and broadcasters.

These professional activities are enough to keep a person extremely busy, but I believe it’s important also to have personal artistic goals. Doing personal work is a type of valuable meditation, a place for investigative thought, which I find essential for helping keep my head together and my priorities straight in this life.

This site is primarily a gallery of my personal artwork, which currently focuses on science and nature themes. I have only begun exhibiting personal work in the past several years, but have regularly shown with the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) juried exhibits throughout the US, the Focus on Nature biennial exhibit at the New York State Museum, and other international exhibitions. I also show with the Southern Ontario Nature and Science Illustrators (SONSI), as well as with the Botanical Artists of Canada, for which I have also served several times as exhibit juror.

Lately I am most interested in the geometry and physics that underlie biological forms, as I think therein lie hints of the principles that make all of us what we are and that connect us with the rest of the cosmos. Within physics is poetry. Art and Science orbit each other kind of like twin stars.

I have included a number of recent works on this theme, as well as a selection of sketchbook drawings. Observational sketching to me is another essential element of life, a meditative learning experience. All these types of art — observational and imaginative sketching, and production of finished works —  feed each other and help keep a focus on what matters, which to me means the larger context of life in the biosphere, beyond our small, human vanities.

I can be reached at:
kathryn[dot]chorney[at]sympatico[dot]ca