Katie Kelly has been interested in illustration for as long as she can remember. She began sketching at the age of nine and has been at it ever since. Her parents were incredibly supportive throughout the course of her artistic evolution, allowing her to paint murals on their walls, portraits on furniture, and ink sketches on her jeans.

Katie's style is best described as happy, whimsical, quirky, and a little bit twisted. She often exaggerates certain elements within her paintings because she feels that unnatural characterizations can evoke stronger emotions than those rendered exactly, enabling people to connect with and understand them from unique perspectives. She likes endowing natural elements such as trees, water, and the sky with human traits while, on the other hand, she gives rigid - almost robotic - qualities to human characters.

"I am excited to be a part of the Disney team," says Katie."My relationship with Disney stems from an illustration I created for a book that I am writing." She explains that the painting portrays a Depression-era dinner scene in which a little girl is being served a mountain of sweet treats by a parade of butlers and maids. Her good friend Noah happened to see this piece and was instantly reminded of the Alice in Wonderland tea party. After some collaboration between the two artists, she painted the tea party scene using her own interpretation of the Alice in Wonderland characters.

It was from this painting that Katie s unique twist on Disney characters was born. She says that Disney embodies happiness in every sense of the word and it brings me great joy to be a part of that happiness.