Kate has always been interested in art, and the relationship between art and the natural world. As a child, she discovered life drawings created by her Grandmother in the 1930’s and 40’s, drawn during a period in which she was studying art in Paris. Unrolling the drawings, the young Kate became fascinated by the evocative charcoal sketches, and a lifelong passion began.
At nineteen years old, Kate completed her Art Foundation at the wonderfully traditional Adelaide Central School of Art in South Australia, receiving a thorough tutoring in the visual arts, with particular focus on the discipline of life drawing. She went on to gain a BAHons in Fine Art at Bournemouth Arts Institute, a more experimental experience in counterpoint to the classical traditions she had previously been tutored in. It proved to be a valuable experience, helping her to think outside the box and approach art in a different manner.
Living in places as varied as London, Suffolk, Australia, and the Isle of Mull on Scotland’s west coast, Kate has been inspired by the differing landscapes and light qualities of each area.
It is not solely art that has occupied Kate’s time. She has gained a Royal Horticultural Society qualification in Horticulture and Garden Design; various pets including dogs, cats and chickens; and of course her two sons…all of which have, in their own way, influenced her art.
Kate’s inspiration and drive comes from both her immediate environment, and the work produced by other artists. She greatly admires old masters such as Turner, as well as more contemporary artists such as Cy Twombly and Howard Hodgkin. Her local landscape of the Waveney Valley, with it’s wide swathes of lush grazing marsh, pellucid dykes and tranquil rivers under a vast sky never fail to move Kate. She walks through this beautiful place on a daily basis, noting the subtle seasonal shifts and taking inspiration for her contemporary landscape paintings
Kate recently gained a Fine Art Masters with distinction from Norwich University of the Arts and was a recipient of the Fred Dubery Scholarship awarded by East Anglia Art Fund. The work Kate produces is diverse and varied, but throughout her art is an atmospheric, sensitive and emotive thread, binding the pieces together with place, mood and light.