ABOUT

Kate Owen is an abstract painter working from her home studio on property in northern NSW, a creative oasis with expansive views of undulating farming country. From these peaceful surroundings a feeling of freedom is conveyed through her expansive pieces.

Her work explores the playful curiosity of childhood, a space where wonder, spontaneity and creativity are abundant. She has an enduring love of florals and the whimsical forms of fungi and cactus often find their way into the work. 

Using acrylic paint and oil sticks she captures her joy in the physicality of drawing with paint. Working quickly to preserve the freshness of her first feeling she prefers to let the work develop intuitively on the canvas, allowing each piece to discover its own rhythm through her intuitive response to music she listens to whilst working. 

Using a wide brush or rag dipped in paint and sweeping it across the canvas sets the tempo of the work. With a variety of brushes, she layers paint mixed with mediums to achieve varying transparencies to show you the story of the piece, where it started and how it got there, each layer a new draft of the composition.

Kate took up painting full time in 2017 having worked in various creative industries after graduating with a diploma in Fashion Design in 1989. She has had several solo exhibitions, group shows, won a variety of art prizes and has recently been selected as a finalist in the National Emerging Art Prize. She is listed with Wentworth Galleries in Brisbane and Sydney but also sells direct through her website and mailing list.