For nearly three decades, Kristin Kest has maintained a professional practice rooted in natural science and botanical illustration. Her portfolio includes more than thirty published books, twenty calendars, and numerous commissions for magazines and other publications, among them a one-hundred-page fantasy graphic novel. Kest’s design work extends into licensed and manufactured products, including wallpaper, greeting cards, posters, packaging, and educational materials.

Her interdisciplinary approach bridges scientific accuracy and imaginative narrative, moving fluidly across the realms of educational illustration, historical fiction, and speculative art. Kest earned her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and her undergraduate degree from York College of Pennsylvania, where she concentrated in botany and ecology and later taught illustration and drawing for nearly a decade.

In recent years, Kest has expanded her practice to include ceramics, exploring the expressive potential of clay as a medium for storytelling and the embodiment of fantastical forms. She is also a musician and performs with The Weathercocks, a rock band founded with artist Mark Zug.