Karlene McConnell is based in Ormond Beach, Florida after spending her early childhood years in northern Alabama. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art Education from the University of Central Florida. She is a former special education art teacher and museum curator. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group shows from New England to Miami. Her art is included in several corporate and private collections, including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NY, and the permanent Lemerand Collection at Daytona State College, FL.

Perceptions of the natural world are explored through gestural paintings. Her work serves as a bridge between the expectations of realism and the freedom of abstract expressionism. Palettes that are chosen create conversations between cool and warm tones and serve to energize the compositions.