About Kate Clarke
Born Catherine Elizabeth Clarke on February 3rd 1970, I grew up in Saltaire,West Yorkshire. From a very young age I knew that I loved to draw and work with paper, spending hours creating comics, books and paper dolls.
At school I gained grade A in ‘O’ level Art and went on to take A level Art the following year, also achieving an A grade.
I won an ESU scholarship to attend St. John’s – Ravenscourt school in Winnipeg, Canada graduating in the class of ’89.
On returning to England I briefly attended North Staffordshire Polytechnic, in Stoke-on-trent, studying multi-disciplinary design, before realising after one term that the course was not for me and returning to Bradford.
In 1991, I moved to Hebden Bridge with my partner, Les and have lived there ever since. After the birth of my daughter in 1992, I began childminding and studying for an NVQ in childcare and education at a local college.
For the next thirteen years my creative energy went into projects with the children I worked with, both as a nursery nurse and then again as a childminder after the birth of my son in 2000.
In 2005, I decided on a career change and began working on various textile and design projects such as memory quilts and spot illustrations/logo design.
After finding a studio in a local mill, I began to experiment again with various different media including acrylic and watercolour paint but soon gravitated back to coloured pencil work, the medium having been a favourite during my childhood.
My portrait work is all carried out in coloured pencil,usually on bristol board, and I prefer to work life-size or larger.
My pictures often have a message behind them., whether it be a story about the subject or a comment about current affairs, designed to make you question and think!
