Kathy Lawrence grew up and studied art in New York City, in an environment ideal for a budding artist. Her earliest childhood memories are of happily painting alongside her mother in her studio, using her mom's best sable brushes and paints.

Today, like her famous mother, Lawrence is well known to collectors for her paper doll books. She often modeled for her mother, artist Queen Holden, whose paper doll books from the 1930s to the 1960s are highly collectible and are still being reproduced today.

Surrounded by her mother's artist friends, Lawrence was familiar with illustrators such as Maude Fangel, whose lovely pastels of babies graced magazine covers from the 20s through the 40s, and children's book artists Eulalie and Ruth Newton.

Recalls Lawrence, "I was blessed with a wonderfully nurturing childhood, and I'm sure that has had a role in making children such a favorite subject of mine. Painting the things that delight me — a child's little hands in prayer, the play of light on a fringed coverlet, the precious feeling of a baby in one's arms — makes artwork ever fascinating and challenging. I love to include the timeless old toys that are a child's patient and loving companions, and to place them in surroundings that feel familiar, comfortable and safe, like the childhood I remember."

The charming illustrations of Kathy Lawrence have been included in the Society of Illustrators' prestigious Annual of American Illustration. Lawrence has painted for a major greeting card company for many years, and her artwork has also appeared on collectors' plates and giftware. Among her portrait commissions is the official portrait of former Los Angeles mayor, Thomas Bradley. Lawrence, her husband and daughter live in Texas and share a passion for old historic houses. Together, they are restoring a turn-of-the-century Queen Anne Victorian home.