Kest_Secret Forest by Kristin Kest (2022)

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Description Toad sits under a small log bridge festooned with fungi and mosses. The forest floor has leaves, insects, and acorns strewn about. Small frog says hello.

Kristin Kest, Dillsburg
Member Since May 2012
Artist Statement “The focus of my work has always been located squarely in the natural world. I've been an illustrator doing botanical work for over 30 years and in that time my work has moved fluidly between science markets and product design, dropping into serious fine art painting with figurative and feminist themes. I believe that what holds all of these together is human storytelling with an understanding that the magic of the story doesn't negate the real world.

I have often wondered about the unique phenomenon that is Art, and humanity's drive to create it, to see it, to possess it. It seems to me that Art is just a wild spore, the seed of "the magic" which allows humans to be part of the living force of the natural world and to each other. Our desire to connect, to feel awe, wonderment, and beauty about our very individual, yet shared human experiences are those feelings that drive our definitively human existence. It is the artist's job, then, to leverage open that door as wide as we can to whatever realm of magic we can see and to invite everyone in.”

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Kest received her MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and an undergraduate degree from York College of Pennsylvania with an emphasis on Botany. Later she was professor of Illustration and Drawing courses there for nearly 9 years. Kest has illustrated over 30 books in the children's science market and has made illustrations for all kinds of products-- greeting cards, posters, wallpaper designs, calendars, book covers, magazines, and more. Kest has also worked with the US Dept. of State, illustrating the 2004 Earth Day Poster, and with the National Parks creating their brochure for The Russell Cave National Monument. Kest has continually shown her work in numerous gallery exhibitions since 1996.