Kim Michelle Toft
KIM Michelle Toft grew up in the suburban streets of Brisbane and as an only child she would spend hours drawing in her room alone, creating her cartoon characters like Walt Disney, her hero at the time.
Her hardworking mother would buy her a Little Golden Book once a month and over the years Kim built up a large collection of cherished picture books, which she still has today.
Her artistic ability was recognised and applauded throughout her school years and the praise continued into teacher’s college, where she majored in art and ran the school magazine. It was her high school art teacher who motivated and influenced Kim to persue art as a career path.
During her college years Kim met her first boyfriend and together they discovered the relatively untouched beauty of far-north Queensland. Sailing, snorkelling and hiking, enjoying all that rainforests and reefs have to offer. From this time on, Kim decided she would only live in houses that were on the water and for the past 40 years this has become a reality, living on various waterways around Australia.
She moved to Belongil Beach in Byron Bay 30 years ago where she worked with a woman who was painting on silk. Kim was hooked. Silk became her medium of choice and was used to illustrate all her awardwinning children’s books. She has exhibited her silk paintings around Australia, Maui, Hong Kong and Canada.
Her greatest achievement, however, was the birth of her daughter Casey in 1992. That is when Kim became serious about her direction as an author, illustrator and conservationist. The combination of becoming a mother, working as an artist and teacher and loving her seaside lifestyle, her multi-awardwinning children’s books were born.
Her first book released in 1993 is still in print today, winning many international and national literature and environmental awards and has been published in several countries. The book’s message was clear – the cost of human impact on the delicate balance in oceans and, in particular, coral reefs.
Over the next 25 years Kim released 11 environmental children’s books and her latest release
revisits the urgency of the reef’s preservation. The book once again showcases Kim’s exquisite hand-painted silk illustrations. She collaborated on this book with her dear friend and collector of her work, Dave Hannan, film maker and photographer. CORAL SEA DREAMING This book is aimed at pre-school to primary school aged children and is an excellent tool to help educate and introduce them to the wonders of the reef. David has also produced a series of short two minute videos of all the creatures in the book and these can be viewed online on his brand-new Ocean Channel. His work has been screened on the BBC, National Geographic and Discovery.
Kim travels extensively presenting at schools throughout Australia and Asia. She will be presenting at the Ubud Writers Festival in Bali in 2018. She is also a member of the prestigious organisation Artists For Conservation, which is based in Vancouver and is in the process of planning a solo exhibition in Canada in 2018.
Kim currently lives in an old beach house overlooking Shelly Beach and she has a gallery with five other local artists on the river at the entrance of the Ramada on Richmond River in Ballina. She is currently negotiating publishing deals with China and the UK. LEARN MORE: KIMTOFT.COM.AU