The Artist
Kate Scott grew up in South Africa on the Natal South Coast and at an early age showed a talent for drawing and painting. After graduating from the Natal Technikon in Textile Design she worked for Da Gama Textiles and then Tongaat Textiles, creating original designs for furnishing fabrics.
On moving to Cape Town she established a successful career as a fashion buyer for Woolworths and Truworths .The Mediterranean countries she visited as a buyer inspired her to start her own business Medblue Ceramics specializing in hand painted ceramics, tiles and coordinating fabrics.
She held two successful exhibitions at Constantia shopping Centre and exhibited at the SARDA fair Constantia, and then opened a retail outlet at the new High Constantia Shopping Centre.
Medblue Ceramics exhibited at the inaugural Decorex at Spier and again the following year, exporting to Lady Daphne on Sloane Square London and doing commissions for many high profile clients and interior designers. Such as a large tile panel for the Table Bay Hotel, a re- creation of the historical tile surrounds for the fireplace at Genadendaal, Nelson Mandela’s residence at the time, and tiles for Telana Hill winery.
Kate now concentrates on painting with pastels from her home studio on the beautiful island of Corfu in Greece.
She is a member of The Pastel Society of America, and has had paintings juried into several International Pastel Exhibitions.Kate was selected as the jury’s favorite 15% in the monthly International Bold Brush Painting competition for the months of February, March and June respectively where she also won an honorable mention and a cash award.
Two of Kate’s paintings were finalists in the 2019 and 2021 Vuleka competition and in 2021 one of her pastels won a merit award.
Kate is absolutely passionate about the ocean, and believes in the old Greek saying, “Every swim in the sea, adds a year to your life.
Artist Statement
I am inspired and awed by the incredible beauty that surrounds me in nature, whether I am walking the dogs on a deserted beach at sunrise or hiking in the mountains behind our house.
Being a Pisces and having grown up by the beach, swimming, surfing and windsurfing in the ocean, the sea is often my muse. I am fascinated by its power and energy and ever changing moods. It is a constant in my life, which I could not live without.
I use pastel, a medium I love for its tactile nature. I love holding the stick of pure hand- rolled pigment and painting with it, smudging with my fingers as I go, and getting my hands covered in vibrant pastel dust. I never use fixative on the finished work as it deadens the colour, and behind glass the pastel is as archival and will last as long as an oil painting.
I work on location, sketching and recording the colours as often as I can, photographs taken on site also form an important reference for work in the studio. My goal is to capture the light and to this end I have been absolutely inspired by the work of the Spanish painter Sorolla who was known as the “Master of Sunlight”.
Painting for me is a compulsion, a meditation of the soul and something I have to do every day.
Shakespeare said “The earth has music for those who listen.” In my paintings I strive to capture the essence of the scene, not in a photographic way, but so the viewer can taste the salt on their lips, feel the wind in their hair, and pause a moment in the sunlight.
