Kitty Harvill, Children's Illustrator

Born in Clarksville, Tennessee, Kitty Harvill received her BFA cum laude in painting from SMU including a semester of study in Paris. She received an MA in art therapy from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an AA in illustration from Ray College, Chicago. In 1990, she formed Harvill Ross Studios Ltd., a commercial art firm in Little Rock, Arkansas. She served as president until 2002 and worked in both design and illustration. She has illustrated twelve children's books, four that portray endangered species (and three of those with the subject of birds), numerous book covers and magazine articles, painted portrait commissions and still lifes.

PHOTO: Kitty Harvill received the 2022 Simon Combes Conservation Award. She is shown here with the AFC President, Jeff Whiting.

Having dual residency in both the states and Brazil, she and her husband have recently returned to Clarksville, TN. She has dedicated herself to nature and wildlife art since 2006. In 2009 she was invited to Signature membership in AFC - Artists for Conservation and was named "Conservation Artist of the Month" for April 2013. She has had numerous artworks accepted for the AFC international exhibits "The Art of Conservation". She is the 2022 Simon Combes Conservation Award recipient, the highest award given by AFC and the world’s most prestigious conservation award given to a visual artist. For three years in a row, she received the TWASI (Great Britain) The Wildlife Art Society International's International Award. She has been a member of APAP, Professional Association of Painters of Parana in Curitiba, Brazil and participated in their exhibitions.

Harvill has been commissioned by the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, ICMBio, to create the cover paintings for their National Action Plans for the Conservation of Endangered Species, completing 12 covers to date. In 2014, Harvill formed the Facebook group 52 WEEKS - Nature Painting Challenge.
The group was transitioned to ABUN - Artists & Biologists Unite for Nature in January 2016. Now in its 8th year, ABUN has members worldwide and has completed 42 Projects, spanning the globe, for biologists and organizations working to save endangered species and habitats. Harvill works in watercolor, pastel, oil and acrylic. Her goal is to raise awareness through her artwork of beautiful and yet severely threatened areas of the planet such as the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Cerrado or Savanna of Brazil. Her work is included in corporate, museum and private collections in the USA, Brazil, Germany, Singapore and Spain.

MORE ABOUT KITTY HARVILL:

•  Artists for Conservation 
•  Fine Art America
•  Facebook 

• Abayomi, the Brazilian Puma
• Wisdom, the Midway Albatross (Starred PW review)