Born and raised in the heart of the English countryside, Kate Florence moved to Melbourne in 2018, where she gradually built an art practice from her studio in Brunswick East. Her debut solo exhibition “Scenes of an untold story” at Saint Cloche Gallery in March 2021, kickstarted a full-time painting practice and relocation to the Hinterlands of Noosa. Kate shares her daily rituals and gave us a glimpse into her warehouse studio in Noosaville.
Imagery by Keith Hamlyn
On what she does…
Right now my practice is exploring paint, my work is a constant evolution of growing ideas.
It began years ago when i discovered free machine embroidery and began to draw through stitch. I fell in love with lack of control you have and the pace of the machine means you just have to draw what comes to you in the moment. This is something that is still prominent throughout my practice, i try not to plan much of my work, so i can fully immerse myself in the flow of what comes to me at the time.
On her daily rituals…
Every day looks different for me, being self employed can be a challenge sometimes and I’m not naturally someone who follows a strict order or routine.
However my staples are: wake up naturally around 6.30 - I don’t use an alarm, I have very noisy family of Kooka’s that live with us on the property so they make sure I’m awake nice and early.
I then wake up and stretch, drink tea, eat something delicious and think about my day.
The biggest and most recent lesson has been to not push myself to create when i don’t feel energised to do so, this means i have to check in with myself every day and ask what it is i actually feel like doing. I find writing a list super important to prevent my brain from magnifying the things i need to do or haven’t yet done, this is usually done most days with a coffee in hand.
Rituals for creativity & inspiration...
Do things that make me happy!
For me that spending time outside, i now live in Queensland, which is just dripping with beautiful swimming hoes, mountain walks and incredible beaches!
I also collab with photographers for photoshoots that then offer heaps of visual imagery for me to work from. i love to collaborate with as many people as i can as this really inspires me.
Rituals for productivity & organisation…
A list !! always always lists. I like to title my list as a ‘Get to do’ list, a reminder of how privileged i am, and how every day is to be enjoyed not endured. It's easy to fall into the trap of every day being structured around the jobs ‘i have to do’ - instead of taking some perspective on the situation and realising how lucky i am to be doing these things.
I like to work in 3 hour bursts, this is how i am most productive and efficient. My attention wavers if i start to push past this point. I like to try to crack on with the things i want to do with the expectation of doing something else afterwards, this way i always surprise myself with what i can get done in 3 hours!
Rituals her favourite memory…
Oooh i have so many, the first one that springs to mind is my first pony called Smokey. He was a Sheltland pony, real hard nut and really tiny, I was about 6 when we first got him. He taught me so many life lessons as he was constantly finding creative ways in which i could fall off him. He used to run under low tree branches, he used to walk as close as he possibly could to the arena fence so he could rub my legs on the fence and id fall off the other side, he used to suddenly stop mid trot and put his head down so i would fly off over his head! He was very smart and very cunning, also very loving and sweet, he only just passed away last year at the age of 40.
Where she draws inspiration from…
The main subject of my work is human form, i have been fascinated with it for years. We are truly beautiful creatures, living, moving, thinking breathing magical forms that can be portrayed endlessly though the medium of art. We may be varied in our looks, but underneath it all, we are all the exact same.
Growing up in Europe, i was lucky enough to be constantly submerged in some of the worlds greatest collections of art, both ancient and contemporary. This was something that i took for granted, its not until i moved to Australia that i realised what a blessing this was.
