Kate (Catherine) Samworth (born 1967) is an artist, author and illustrator whose book ''Aviary Wonders Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual'' won the
Kirkus Prize
The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine '' Kirkus Reviews''. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows annually. Three authors are awarded each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction ...
for Young Readers in 2014 with the judges saying it was "one of the most creative books we have ever encountered."
Her illustrations frequently involve the natural world and human interaction with it. Samworth's travels—to
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
,
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
,
Costa Rica, and
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
—are a source for her artwork.
Her book, ''Aviary Wonders,'' is a mockup of a catalog in a future world with
extinct birds. Readers are invited to peruse "a charming selection of bodies and wings, and assemble a realistic bird automaton."
Samworth says she is "trained in observational drawing and painting" and influenced by the darker aspects of
Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...
,
Daumier, and
Balthus
Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his image ...
."
She has illustrated four books, including ''Aviary Wonders Inc.'' and ''Grand Isle'' (Samworth is the author of these two), ''Why Fish Don't Exist'' by NPR science journalist Lulu Miller, and ''Liza Jane and the Dragon'' by Laura Lippman.
Samworth studied and taught painting at the
New Orleans Academy of Fine Art, and considers
Auseklis Ozols one of her mentors.
She received a BFA from
in 2010 where she studied printmaking and now teaches illustration and painting.
Her paintings and prints are in the collections of the
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, the
Woodmere Art Museum, and the Fundación Lolita Rubial in
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
.
Personal life
Samworth was born in
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, it also extends into Marion County, Tennessee, Marion County on its west ...
and raised in the suburbs of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
She played bass in the band
Fire Party in the late 1980s.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samworth, Kate
1967 births
Living people
American children's writers
Kirkus Prize winners