Kathryn Durst

Artist: Kathryn Durst

Kathryn Durst is an illustrator, designer, printmaker, and teacher based in Ontario, Canada. A graduate of Sheridan College with a background in animation, she has interned at Pixar Animation Studios and collaborated with major children’s book publishers, including Puffin Books, Tundra Books, Walker Books, Candlewick Press, Simon & Schuster, and Random House Children’s.

Her work has earned numerous accolades, including reaching #1 on the New York Times Best-Seller list for Hey Grandude! by Sir Paul McCartney, selection for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, and winning the Hackmatack Children's Choice Book Award in both 2023 and 2024.

Kathryn’s artistic practice is deeply expressive, using charcoal, pastels, gouache, pencil crayons, and graphite to explore the figure and its emotional transformations. Inspired by folk art, she merges observation, expression, and invention to visually project a subject’s inner emotional state, capturing both raw vulnerability and moments of joy and connection.