BIOGRAPHY

Katie is enticed by the complexity of who we are as beings and the world that exists (whether in reality, our memories or our dreams) around us. She wants to stretch her arms through the nostalgia, the hopes, the failings, the things that were or might have been, and reflect that in her work. She wants to tell a story, the landscape of our memory and nostalgia, real or imagined, mingles with our everyday interactions. We form our past, our present, our future selves in the tapestry of our minds. 

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She finds pastels evoke a velvet richness, which compliments the tactile nature of Katie's subject matter. Colour is incredibly important in conveying mood and emotion in her work, and the pastel pigments give the vivacity and clarity she needs. She is able to capture both the luxury of satin ribbon and the clean chime of china teacups with this versatile medium. 

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Memories of my childhood in rural Hampshire often include a pencil or paint. This continued into higher education where Katie attended the University of Leeds to study Fine Art. However, struggling to find her 'voice' as an artist, she was deeply frustrated that she couldn't make work she loved. Leaving art behind for a few years, she had children, moved to Derbyshire and became a teacher.

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But the nag of creating was unavoidable and never left.

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​Asked by in-laws to draw a dog they wanted to gift to some friends, Katie found that, to her joy, she I adored trying to represent the soft fur and deep meaningful eyes. Then, she discovered pastel pencils- that with practise, she could could get the details desired paired with vivid colour she loved. She was hooked. Katie also values the tension between the physically 'untouchable' nature of pastels, the fear of a smudge, in contrast to the intimacy and tactile content. She feels this reflects the way of human nature and memory- a complex mixture of exposed and hidden, touchable and forever distant.