Kinuko Yamabe Craft (born January 3, 1940) is a Japanese-born American painter, illustrator and fantasy artist.

Biography

Kinuko Yamabe Craft was born in

Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 466,029 in 203,271 households, and a population density of 990 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Etymology The name "Kanazaw ...

Ishikawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,186 Square kilometre, km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Pr ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

on January 3, 1940. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1964 from the

Kanazawa College of Art The , colloquially known as Bidai or Kanabi, is a public university in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan. About Kanazawa College of Art was founded in 1946 by the Kanazawa municipal government following World War II, and became a full-fledged universi ...

. After graduating, she came to the United States in 1964 to study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she continued her studies in design and illustration. A majority of her earlier work was for the editorial and advertising market. Craft illustrated the cover art of the older editions of Shakespeare's work for the Folger Library. She has a passionate love of European fine art and draws on a deep knowledge of European art history in creating her work. She is most inspired by the works of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

, the Pre-Raphaelites, and

Symbolist painters Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

. Her work is done with a combination of artist oils and watercolor on clayboard gesso panels. Craft has illustrated eight picture books (fairy tale and classic mythology) designed for children and young readers. Since the mid-1990s, she has concentrated her efforts on art for fantasy book jackets. Her art has included paintings for the book covers of many well-known fantasy authors such as Patricia A. McKillip, Juliet Marillier, and

Tanith Lee Tanith Lee (19 September 1947 – 24 May 2015) was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime ...

. She has also designed opera posters, fairy tale books and painted cover art for many national magazines such as ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', and ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

''. She has collaborated with many authors and worked with her husband Mahlon F. Craft and her daughter Marie Charlotte Craft. Her original paintings, drawings, and limited-edition prints are represented by Borsini-Burr Gallery in Montara, California, and other galleries. Her art has been licensed on calendars, posters, greeting cards, and other consumer goods. Her fairy tale books are currently distributed in the USA, other English-speaking countries, Europe, Greece, China, and Korea. She has received numerous awards for her work, including several gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators, New York, NY. Ms. Craft’s work can be found in the collections of

National Portrait Gallery (United States) The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded in 1962 and opened in 1968, it is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of American artists, politicians, scientists ...

, the Museum of American Illustration in New York City, the National Geographic Society, and other corporate collections. She has been nominated five times since 2001 as a Best Artist for the World Fantasy Awards and won the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist in 2011. Craft has also lectured and given workshops at numerous art schools, universities, and organizations, including Art Center College of Art and Design, San Jose State University, Rhode Island School of Design, Philadelphia College of the Arts (2012), and more. In 2022, a 294 page collection featuring over 300 of Craft's drawings and paintings entitled ''Visions of Beauty'' was published by Borsini-Burr. The book is nominated for a Locus Award for Best Illustration and Art Book, and Craft is nominated for Best Artist for 2023.

Bibliography

Awards and honors

* Best Illustrated and Art Book Nominee, ''Kinuko Craft: Visions of Beauty'', Locus Awards, 2023 * Best Artist Nominee, Kinuko Craft, Locus Awards, 2023 * Hall of Fame Inductee, Society of Illustrators, 2008 * Hamilton King Award, Society of Illustrators, 1987

Collections

* ''Kinuko Craft Drawings and Paintings: V. 1'' (Imaginosis, 2007) * ''Kinuko Craft: Visions of Beauty'' (Borsini-Burr, 2022)

Children's picture book illustration

* ''Rumpelstiltskin: A German Folk Tale from the Brothers Grimm'', translated by Lucy Crane ( Scott, Foresman, 1970) * ''Gingerbread Children'' (Poems), by Ilo Orleans ( Follett, 1973) * ''Bear, Wolf and Mouse'', by Jan Wahl ( Follett, 1975) * ''Come Play with Me'', by Margaret Hillert (Modern Curriculum Press, 1975) * ''Mother Goose ABC'' ( Platt & Munk, 1977) * ''What Is It?'', by Margaret Hillert (Modern Curriculum Press, 1977; Perfection Learnin, 1989) * ''Classics: A Child's Introduction to Treasure Island, Black Beauty, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Robin Hood'' ( Platt & Munk, 1977) * '' The Tower of Geburah'' by John White ( IVP, 1978 edition only) * ''The Cookie House'', by Margaret Hillert (Modern Curriculum Press, 1978) * ''The Black Swan'', by Paula Z. Hogan ( Heinemann, 1979; Steck-Vaughn, 1987) * ''The Elephant'', by Paula Z. Hogan ( Heinemann, 1980) * ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

'', by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

( Steck-Vaughn, 1980) * ''Tales of the Ugly Ogres'', by Corinne Denan (Troll Communications, 1980) * '' The Twelve Dancing Princesses'', by Marianna Mayer ( Morrow Junior Books, 1989) * ''Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave'', by Marianna Mayer (

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

, 1994) * ''

Cupid and Psyche Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from ''Metamorphoses'' (also called ''The Golden Ass''), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psy ...

'' by M. Charlotte Craft (

, 1996) * ''

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

'', by Marianna Mayer (

, 1998) * ''King Midas and the Golden Touch'', by M. Charlotte Craft (

, 1999) * ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'', by

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , , ; 12 January 162816 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his ...

(SeaStar Books, 2000) * ''The Adventures of Tom Thumb'', by Marianna Mayer (

Chronicle Books Chronicle Books is a San Francisco–based American publishing company that publishes books for both adults and children. History The company was established in 1967 by Phelps Dewey, an executive with Chronicle Publishing Company, then-publish ...

, 2001) * ''

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

'', by the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

(

Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author, philologist and anthropologist. He was the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1 ...

and

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He formulated Grimm's law of linguistics, and was the co-author of the ''Deutsch ...

) and Mahlon F. Craft (SeaStar Books] 2002; leather bound edition by Easton Press, 2006) * '' Beauty & the Beast'', by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and Mahlon F. Craft ( Harper, 2016)

Museum exhibitions

*The Cornish Colony Museum, Windsor VT "Heroines in Literature" (Winter 2006/2007)
The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa
Kanazawa Japan "A Spring Night's Dream" Spring 2006

References

External links

Ten Dreams GalleriesBorsini-Burr GalleryKinuko Craft's Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craft, Kinuko Y. 1940 births Living people 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American women painters American artists of Japanese descent American children's book illustrators American women children's book illustrators American fantasy artists Asimov's Science Fiction people People from Kanazawa, Ishikawa Japanese emigrants to the United States Japanese fantasy artists Illustrators of fairy tales