Kristy grew up in rural and coastal Taranaki, New Zealand where she spent much of her time escaping to libraries to read, write, draw, and indulge in her imagination. After finishing high school with the award for Dux, she moved to Wellington and graduated from Massey University with a Bachelor of Design, but she is mainly self-taught in illustration. While there, she also attained a Certificate in Early Childhood Education from the Wellington Nannies College. She later moved to Canada with her husband where she now works as a freelance illustrator. The scope of her illustration work so far includes portraiture, character design, poster design, cover artwork, colouring pages, Christmas cards, and a wide variety of both science and story-based illustrations for educational resources.
Working mainly digitally (and occasionally with watercolour), she specializes in children’s illustration, using her work to visually express the wonderful diversity of people and nature. She treasures the mighty picture book, believing in its ability to encourage curiosity and empathy in children, in its value as a learning tool, and in providing emotional enrichment between reader and listener. In her illustrations she especially loves to bring characters to life, build a rich world around them, and to work with unique and meaningful stories that have a dash of mystery, adventure, or magic. Her personal artwork embodies her scrupulous nature and plays with proportion to illustrate how she experiences the world; with heightened senses, a fixation on details, and a strong sense of justice. Kristy is an introvert at heart with a penchant for collecting, a passion for ballet, gardening, and vintage fashion. Though she takes a lot of inspiration from the bustle of the city, she enjoys the quiet spots that let her ideas stir.