Kit got her start as a painter assisting her father, a self-taught artist, on jobs. He was a sign-painter; a master gold leaf letterer. In addition to the finer techniques of sign painting; the use of a mahl stick, how to hold a brush, and how to mix paints, Kit's father insisted she learn to play golf. To this day, Kit is grateful for her father's insistence that she learn to paint, but she refuses to play golf in spite of the fact that she possesses an excellent swing.

When Kit was three, the Keith family moved to Sarasota , Florida , the Ringling Bros. Circus headquarters. As a result, Kit didn't have to run away to join the circus; it was literally in her backyard. At 5, she would play "circus" with the neighbor kids. She found that hanging by her feet from the swing set came quite naturally and by the time she was 12, she tried out for the trapeze act at the Sailor's Circus.

Kit stayed with the trapeze, eventually graduating to catcher for the younger girls, until she was 18. During this time, she studied the art of trapeze with the Great Wallendas and never seemed to get over the awe of seeing other performers who made Sarasota their home. When she was nine, she fondly recalls, "often being in line at the market behind various 'munchkins' from The Wizard of Oz, who were exactly my height!" She was thrilled when her mother, an antique collector and purveyor of garage sales, found her a tiny pair of brown, leather high-heels that surely came from one of the former cast members, as they fit her perfectly.

At 19, Kit moved to St. Louis where punk rock and new wave inspired her creativity and she took formal painting and drawing classes at a junior college. A quick stint at the Chicago Art Institute punctuated her formal lessons with art and she found herself back in St. Louis , near the Crown Candy Kitchen: her first studio was a former schoolhouse. She'd often visit her friend's studio, where she delightfully recalls seeing the chalkboards still up on her walls.

Life and love led her to move to Williamsburg , Brooklyn , in 1989, where she was inspired by pop art: Rauschenberg, Warhol, and Jim Dine. But the stay in Williamsburg was brief, as Firpo Realty bought the building and evacuated the tenants, she found herself with her husband relocating to neighboring Greenpoint. Kit has had many exhibitions, both in New York and St. Louis ; solo shows at OK Harris and William Shearburn Gallery, including a series of drawings on 14 box spring mattresses at Exit Art. Her illustrations have also been featured in the New York Times, and New Yorker magazine.

Kit cites outsider art as an inspiration as she often will paint over a thrift store painting, incorporating the found imagery into her vision. Her 8 year old son_; Lincoln , is another driving force behind her creativity. His presence has inspired Kit to make lighter and brighter pieces.

Ms. Keith expresses her love of imagery from old magazines and advertisements. Kit loves the "beautiful illustrations" and that "everything was done by hand"—a time when the convenience of a computer font was unimaginable. Undoubtedly, this appreciation comes from the work to which her father introduced her, as well as her mother's appreciation for antiques. Kit's iconic portraits of elegant, wistful, figures, carefully placed on maps, old ledgers, and discarded papers are stoic, yet look as though they want to tell their stories. Take a close look at one of her lovely ladies and you'll see that she has a story behind her: a map of emotions... a runaway daughter.