After completing a Fine Art degree in Sculpture and a PGCE in Art, Kate taught in secondary education before moving to Whitby in 2000. Following time out to raise her family, she continued teaching within local adult groups and, in 2016, began to focus on her painting career.

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Inspired by Whitby and its surrounding coastline, Kate draws on her sculptural background to develop a distinctive impasto style. She works with thick layers of oil paint, applied with a palette knife in bold, exaggerated colours, to create light, texture, and atmosphere.

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This approach has become a defining feature of her work, alongside a deep appreciation for traditional, craftsman-built fishing boats, which often feature as the central subjects in her recent paintings.