Born in Rockville Centre, New York in 1952, Mona Diane Conner grew up in the countryside of Pennsylvania.
She received a B.A. in Studio Art from Allegheny College in 1974 and a B.F.A. in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in NYC in 1976.

Prior to becoming a full time illustrator in 1983, Mona painted murals in Pennsylvania and worked as a staff artist and art director for a NYC pharmaceutical advertising agency. At the suggestion of one of her teachers, Robert Weaver, Mona began painting in egg tempera in 1976 and it has continued to be her primary medium as an illustrator and fine artist.

Mona works on 100% rag illustration board using powder pigments, tube gouache and watercolor. Her egg tempera is water based and the egg medium is mixed on her palette as she paints 4 to 5 layers of paint onto ungessoed Strathmore. She occassionally adds Liquitex flow aid to assist with smooth glazing and blending medium to slow down the drying time of her paints.

Mona has been a guest teacher in illustration and drawing at Pratt and Parsons School of Design in NYC. She has had a one-woman show of her paintings at Hallihurst Mansion in Elkins, West Virginia in 1993. Recently, she has discovered the joy of making Victorian shellcraft on frames and wooden boxes and is beginning to incorporate this craft with some of her paintings.