Tama Illustration (Tama Van Beers) was born in Tokyo, Japan. She graduated from Bunka Gakuin Art School in 1996 and moved to the United States in 2011.

She has been illustrating and painting animals since she was a young child and dancing classical ballet for over 30 years. Tama paints privately commissioned portraits for clients, but her focus is mainly ballet and animal themes. Over the past 10 years, she has self-published annual calendars based on “The Nutcracker”(2011), “Don Quixote”(2012), “Giselle”(2013), “Sleeping Beauty”(2014), “Coppelia”(2015), “Swan Lake”(2016), “Cinderella”(2017) and “La Sylphide”(2019),“La Bayadere” (2020) and ” The Furry Series”(2021).

Tama currently resides in Long Valley, NJ with her American husband and 3 cats Leila, William and Jacob (named after the Brothers Grimm). Leila was adopted from the rescue organization Caring About The Strays (C.A.T.S.) in Westwood, NJ where Tama was a volunteer.

She passed away in the summer of 2021. Tama made the 2022 calendar special as a keepsake along with the other furry dancers.