Cat Rowe Textile Illustration

01209 210479

My work is inspired by the memory of place and experience.

Living in Cornwall its miles of coast and seaside has been a continuing source of inspiration for my work, the wide spaces of the sea's horizon and the Cornish countryside are reflected in my art works, sketchbooks and greeting cards.

I loved writing in notebooks as a child, my mum often making shopping lists for me in exercise books sticking in the labels of baked bean, tomato tins and pasta packets so I could help find items on the weekly shopping trip. Therefore the idea of saving (maybe even hording) interesting things, paper treasures, attached to memories of place and people became a habit, I kept scrapbooks of every family holiday and school trip, retaining the smallest ticket or sugar wrapper in volumes of books. Also growing up in a Laura Ashley and William Morris decorated home has infused my work with a love of floral imagery whether upholstery, clothing or wallpaper.

My entries in my Journals and Sketchbooks provide the inspiration for my textile illustrations, moved by the landscape, memories and personal stories. My work has been described as visually seductive, drawing the viewer into the many layers of text and image choosing to embellish them further with tactile elements such as sequins, buttons, lace, tickets, stamps and postcards that have all been lovingly collected.

I'm visually excited by the compositional arrangement between patterns and textures, images and text, colours and mark making (by stitch or ink) and paper and textiles. I try a make sure that a visually interesting image (photograph or drawing) provides the focal point in each piece of work I make, adding text as and when appropriate.

Since graduating in 2005 from the University College Falmouth with an Ma in Authorial Practice: Illustration, I have been working as a freelance Illustrator and Textile Artist and as a Art technician in a local secondary school.

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