The first piece of Kinuko Y. Craft's work I ever saw was this beautiful,
strange illustration of a leopard woman drinking from a pool. Or at least that's what it seems to be to me. I wish I knew more. (The painting is called "The Transformation of Angarred" and I don't know anything about the story it's based on.)
It
immediately spoke to me, taking me to a place beyond reality and I
wanted to write a story to match it. Craft calls herself a "storyteller," and it's true. Even if you don't know the story that she's given life in her art, A story suggets itself to you.
Kinuko Y. Craft's beautifully illustrated hardcover retelling of
Beauty and the Beast (written by Mahlon F. Craft, Kinuko's husband, an artist/photographer) arrives from Harper Collins this July. You can pre-order it
here and you should, because it looks exquisite. And while you're there, you should pick up a copy of
Cinderella and
Sleeping Beauty, their previous collaboration, as well.On her site, you can buy signed posters she created for the Dallas Opera House. They're a bargain for their beauty and this one is going to be my birthday present to myself:
