Katrina Wilkie

I am primarily, though not exclusively, a landscape painter. A subject observed in my environment is always the starting point for a painting, but then the demands of the painting take over. I focus on the composition and colour relationships but don’t include all topographical details, only those I feel are necessary for the painting to work. I see the final painting as a distillation of my response to the subject.

I studied at The Central School of Art and Design, London, where I gained a BA (Hons) in Fine Art, Painting. I went on to further my studies in life and portrait drawing and painting at The Heatherley School of Fine Art, London.

I have exhibited my work in many group exhibitions and regularly take part in Cambridge Open Studios and Cambridge Drawing Society exhibitions. I have also had a number of exhibitions at the Old Fire Engine House, Ely, and all being well, will be exhibiting there again in October and November 2021.

In the last few years, several of my paintings have been exhibited in the summer and winter group exhibitions at the Russell Gallery, Putney, London, and I have had work selected for the New English Art Club’s Annual Exhibition and the Royal Watercolour Society’s Contemporary Watercolour Competition.

From 1985 to 1993 I was a freelance illustrator working in both publishing and advertising. Past clients have included, Virago, Jonathan Cape, The Oxford University Press, The Telegraph, The Observer, The Times Educational Supplement, BT, and Chrysalis TV. More recently, I decided to write and illustrate a children’s book, ‘Clara The Camel Needs Help From Her Friends,’ which I self-published in 2018.

In the 1990s I was commissioned to create a number of paintings and prints by JD Weatherspoons for their pubs.

Over the years other creative employment has included, designing, making, and selling knitwear and textile jewellery; mural painting and specialist decoration; part-time art teaching.