Meet The Maker: Kate Watkins
Hi, I’m Kate an artist, printmaker and teacher based near Southampton in Hampshire. I’m inspired by colour, mark making and abstraction in my current work and creating prints which bring joy and resonate with people.
Describe your printmaking process.
My current practice is very abstract in style and focuses on colour blocks, mark making and subtle surface texture. For a long time I worked on a coastal subject matter but after my parents’ dementia diagnosis I started creating geometric overlapping prints in monoprint, collagraph and screenprint. They were intended as uplifting psychological imagined spaces in which to take shelter. As my children were also very young at the time I couldn’t get out to new coastal locations for source material so looked inward to what I found therapeutic and continuing to print was a way to hold onto my identity.
How and where did you learn to print?
I was first introduced to printmaking at college and learnt more while studying Fine Art at Leeds University but my main interests at that time were darkroom photography and sculpture. After University I started working as a photography teacher and started to learn more about printmaking in my spare time through books and courses as I wanted an artform which was separate to my day job. After several years in the classroom I took a break from teaching to study for an MA in Fine Art Printmaking at Winchester School of Art and have focused on print since that time.
Why printmaking?
I love printmaking as it covers so many different practices and there are always different techniques and approaches to explore. Every time I promise myself I’ll try and focus on area I end up finding out about another.
Where do you work?
I don’t have a studio and sadly my local printmaking studio Badger Press in Hampshire shut down not long after the pandemic. However I work part time as a print instructor at Solent University in Southampton so use those facilities after hours or in the holidays.
Describe a typical day in the studio.
There’s no such thing as a typical day as my printing tends to fit around other commitments so I find I work in intense bursts in the lead up to exhibitions or deadlines. In between those times I’m often trying out ideas in the studio ready for teaching e.g. embossing, screenprinting on clay or aluminium etching. I had a great time attending Jenny McCabe’s workshop at Handprinted to refresh my etching skills.
How long have you been printmaking?
I started regularly attending courses and printing in 2003 so over 20 years.
What inspires you?
Colour and printmaking processes and possibilities inspire me. I always have way more ideas than I could create in reality but I enjoy the process of planning things out, gathering inspiration, sketching and photographing details, shadows and colour combinations to use in the future.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
It’s probably extender - whether that’s for cranfield relief inks or acrylic extender for screenprinting inks. Transparency and colour overlays play a big part in my work.
What have you made that you’re most proud of?
While experimenting with larger scale monoprints I made ‘Elevation’ a monoprint and collagraph printed in about 12 overlapping layers. In the testing stages sometimes colours would block each other out after several layers and ruin the print or the paper surface would peel apart from the pressure of the etching press. I printed it over three sessions spaced apart to let the layers dry. It was accepted to Woolwich contemporary print fair and sold on the first day which made me think I should have tried to make more than one.
Where can we see your work, where do you sell?
I sell work when people see it in exhibitions or art fairs as the colours come across better in person, but I also have a selection on my website. I also sell smaller prints and the art kits I make through my Etsy shop or www.katewatkins.co.uk
What will we be seeing from you next?
At the moment I’m turning a few of my prints into practical homewares to see if there’s a market for them. Friends and family have been getting the samples to test out. I’m also working on ideas for a solo exhibition at Spud gallery in the New Forest next September. It’s based on dementia, creativity and altered perception inspired by my mum who was an amazing artist but no longer remembers that aspect of her life. I plan to combine print with sculpture and interactive elements like sound, projections and heat reactive screenprinting inks if all goes to plan!
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Apply for competitions and exhibitions even if you’re not ready or it’s a long way off. The deadline will motivate you to get pieces finished whatever the outcome. Also try not to take rejection from exhibitions personally - not easy I know. I got a print selected for the RA summer exhibition only once years ago but I try again every few years. I haven’t got back in yet but I know the pressure of the deadline will make me create something new which I then have ready to apply for other opportunities.
To see more of Kate, follow her on Instagram!