Kate Watkins Printmaker Q&A
Earlier this year Courtx tennis club in Southsea Hampshire invited me to have a solo exhibition in their light filled contemporary exhibition space and cafe during spring/summer 2024. As part of the show they asked me to do a Q&A to give people a bit more insight into my creative practice. I’ve added the interview below for those who’d like to know more about my motivation and print background.
whO ARE YOU AND WHAT do you do?
I’m Kate Watkins an artist specialising in printmaking. My current body of work explores colour relationships and geometric forms alongside expressive abstract mark making
What’s your art background, how did you get into art?
I’ve loved art from an early age and was encouraged a lot by my mum who was really creative. I was an anxious teenager but art always made me feel calm and after studying Fine Art at Leeds University I knew I’d found the path I wanted to follow. I trained to be an art teacher afterwards and taught Photography and graphics in sixth form colleges for many years before changing to teach printmaking at Solent University. I’ve always worked in education and more recently tried to focus more on prioritising my own practice alongside the art kits business while still teaching.
Where are you from and how does that affect your work
I’m originally from a small village in Hampshire between Winchester and Southampton. I returned to Hampshire after studying for my degree at Leeds and going on to do a PGCE at Reading University. I came back to the area for a great job teaching photography at Barton Peveril college. Later on during and after my MA in Printmaking at Winchester School of Art focused on work which was based on the Hampshire coastline so was often travelling to different areas to gather source material.
Why do you do what you do?
The desire to create particularly with print sometimes feels like a compulsion. I’ve used art in different forms as a way to express myself and explore ideas for as long as I can remember. I planned to take a break from it when my children were small as I didn’t have time but I’m always drawn back to printmaking. I organised a solo exhibition for when my son was 9 weeks old thinking I’d be bored on maternity leave and have time on my hands. How wrong I was! The variety of techniques print encompasses is so broad there’s always more to learn and explore but it also means you can find ways to print with limited time, resources and space - it’s so versatile.
Who are your biggest artistic influences? What art do you most identify with?
My biggest print influences are the abstract expressionists particularly Robert Rauschenberg as well as a contemporary screenprinter called Kate Gibb. I was blown away by Rauschenbergs work when I first saw it in the 1990’s at a American Art exhibition at the Royal Academy in London while I was studying A levels alongside Jasper Johns, Willem De Kooning and Helen Frankenthaler. I found out as much as I could about his techniques like image transfer, screenprint and mixed media work as well. Kate Gibb’s work is colourful and experimental and plays with colour, scale and geometry. She’s been able to find a niche combining commercial projects with hands on printing techniques such as her fashion prints for Dries Van Noten or her Chemical Brothers album covers. I used her a lot as an influence in my A level graphics teaching early on in the 2000’s.
What themes do you pursue?
I explored figurative and abstracted coastal themes for a long time leading up to my MA and afterwards and found some success with print sales of recognisable locations like Clevedon, Fawley and Brighton. However my Dad’s dementia diagnosis some years ago started me on a different path where I used geometric, abstract and architectural themes. I could no longer get out as often to gather new source material and felt I was trying to repeat images which had previously been popular but weren’t holding my interest so much. My aim with the geometric prints was to create uplifting works of art with expressive colour relationships and the print process itself was a form of therapy for me. I was trying to create the visual concept of hope and protection as I had to leave my job to help with my dad’s care and developing my own work was a way for me to hang on to my identity in difficult circumstances.
Tell me about your favourite medium & Where you find inspiration
It’s currently screenprint for the clean lines, ability to add multiple layers of colours and versatility of the process. I look at colour combination in nature and found materials like rusted boats and weathered beach huts. I photograph close up’s as a reminder to come back to later. I have notebooks with lists of ideas in, many more than I can manage. I’m also interested in pushing a particular technique like screenprint to make it behave in different ways.
How does colour play a role in your artwork?
For a long time I worked with etching and photoetching which traditionally is quite monotone. I realised I needed to change technique and scale to really play with colour and explore abstraction more freely.
How do you work? What is the process of making your artwork?
I start with rough sketches and sometimes mock up a composition on photoshop before starting to make screens. The circular prints are made from handmade marks on drafting film using Indian ink. It’s a bit nerve racking starting to print as I usually only make one of each print so if I mess up a layer or mix the wrong colour part way through it can ruin the whole print.
When is your favourite time of day to create?
I’d say It’s whenever I can fit it in as life is very busy at the moment. I go through phases when I’m working on a few prints at a time and other times where I’m just creating examples for my teaching. I also run love to print an art kits small business on the side so during busy periods that takes up a lot of my time outside work. Sadly my mum now also has dementia so it’s a real juggling act fitting printmaking around commitments. I’ve realised that I have to make time to create as it directly affects my wellbeing. I’m also a real night owl so often gather ideas and plan late at night.
What is your most important artist tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
Earl grey tea, notebooks and Colour swatches I’ve made from all the colours of screenprinting ink I have to help me pre-visualise compositions. My Solent University print colleague Katherine Anteney also made an amazing colour combination swatch book which I use often - pictured.
Is there a specific environment or material that's integral to your work?
Access to screenprinting equipment is a must and getting increasingly difficult to find. I used to go to the wonderful badger press which sadly shut down a couple of year ago. Also if budget allows somerset cotton printmaking paper is my must have item, it’s a beautiful paper that works with so many print processes and can take multiple layers of ink. Some of my prints have over 10 layers so it needs to be able to withstand this.
How has your style changed over time?
It used to be more figurative and based around actual locations and details as I used a lot of photography as a starting point. Now I rely more on imagination and intuition and a desire to push the print process itself. I also used to make editions of prints such as etchings but ended up focusing too much on whether they were all identical or if they sold. With one off pieces I feel more free to explore an idea and then I can move on to the next one.
What work do you most enjoying doing?
Test printing, playing and experimenting with ideas are much easier than committing to a final design. It’s like a holiday for the brain when you know you’re getting useful tasks done but don’t have to worry about every aspect. Happy accidents also come out of this stage that can change the direction of an idea. I teach printmaking at Solent University Printroom in Southampton so often make teaching resources which allows me to work through ideas e.g. recently I’ve been doing paper lithography (blog post available), aluminium etching and decolourant printing on fabric in preparation for workshops. I’ll be sharing these on my blog eventually too.
Tell me about this series of work & your favourite piece on display
This series of works has two parts, one is the geometric prints exploring colour relationships and shelter forms. The other are ‘pathways’ and ‘make a splash’ prints which are influenced by the abstract expressionists also about the joy of colour and escapism of expressive mark making and creating.
My favourite piece is probably ‘’make a splash darkness’ because of the colour interactions and brooding colour palette and I’ve recently turned it into a card and a glass coaster which is proving popular. I am also proud of Refracted Forms V which is the largest piece I’ve created and is a 1.1m x 60cm framed panoramic digital print from collaged screenprints mounted on aluminium. Technically it was difficult working this large but it’s given me lots of new ideas.