Pat Stephens - Illustrator

Born in Toronto, Pat Stephens came to illustration after having been a fine artist, signwriter, paste-up artist, calligrapher and magazine art director. Her childhood hours --- and hours! --- spent drawing horses made it easy to illustrate the many animal books she's done for KCP.

While majoring in modern languages at the University of Toronto, Pat took a fine art studio course “just for fun.” Several years of serious painting and a few gallery shows followed. At 28 she returned to school to study Graphic Design at George Brown College, after which she worked primarily as a paste-up artist, doing magazine illustration on the side.

When manual paste-up became obsolete, Pat turned to illustration in earnest. A book she wrote and illustrated about her cat, Nickie, led to her association with Kids Can Press in the mid 1990s.

Pat had her first child at the ripe old age of 48 and they live in Durham, Ontario, a town small enough that they can be biking along country roads or walking in the woods in minutes. They share their home with several pets and enjoy cooking, woodworking, gardening and reading in front of the fireplace.