About the Artist

 I first started free range faeries back in 2004, but my faerie obsession started along time before that, I grew up in North Yorkshire right near the North York moors, a area of beautiful countryside steeped in myth & folklore, walking in the woodland & visiting  places nearby like Whitby famous for Bram Stokers Dracula caught my imagination & from an early age I began to be interested in the old stories, myths & legends of the area, & this progressed into a deep interest in all things faerie.

Rock faces! The Bride stones in North Yorkshire

I studied Art & Design at Yorkshire coast college & went on to gain a H.n.d in fashion & Costume, from there I studied at Liverpool John Moores University & gained a Degree in Fashion, although  I really enjoyed the course I knew by the end that a career in Fashion wasn't really for me, I'd based nearly every project I could on faerie related subjects & all my sketchbooks were full of faerie drawings  &  photocopies of my favourite faerie artists, (Brian Froud being my absolute favourite!)

After college I had a while in the wilderness,  not sure what direction to take then I discovered the book 'The Art of Faery' by David Riche, full of beautiful &  varied  artwork by a wide range of different faerie artist, I was inspired to try painting some faerie art of my own & used the book 'How to paint watercolour faeries' to learn some techniques & tips, In the beginning I never intended to do anything with my paintings, I classed it as a hobby, but since then I haven't stopped painting & the faeries just keep turning up!

The Ideas & inspiration for my faerie paintings come from lots of places, I  read a lot & usually the painting I'm working on at a particular time will be  directly linked to a book I'm reading, The writers Marion Zimmer-Bradley  & Jack Vance have had a big influence on me & I love history, folklore, ghost stories, Norse myths & the legends & stories of pagan England.

People sometimes ask me if I ever get bored of painting faeries & want to paint anything else, It hasn't happened yet! How can I get bored of a world so magical & imaginative, I'm always discovering a new aspect to the faerie realm & have more Idea's in my head then I would ever have time to paint,  I see my paintings as my attempt to capture a little piece of the wonder & magic I feel when I'm lost in a book or walking in a beautiful place

Hope you enjoy my work

Kate x