Exhibition 2000-2009

FOREWARD BY IAN COLLINS

If a journey is a good metaphor for art and life, then Katherine Hamilton is an excellent example of a valiant explorer – always taking off in new directions and telling vivid traveller’s tales in panoramic pictures crackling with light, colour, absorbed activity and authentic local atmosphere.

Not for nothing is the word “travel” close to the word “travail”. Kate scorns the easy route. Her hard-won images are essentially experiments just as her life is a largely unplanned work in progress – an apparent meander off the beaten track in which movement is the main thing. The only trick is that the resulting paintings look so effortless and invite such a sense of calm.

FOREWARD BY IAN COLLINS

That sense of something about to happen - of calm before the storm - is a key part of Kate’s character. She has moved around in Suffolk quite a bit, but always has a rucksack at the ready for more intrepid travels. Try calling her and you may find she has vanished to some remote spot in Africa, Asia or the Americas, furthering her aim to paint the authentic and far-flung world.

Introduction by geoffrey munn

Dramatic natural lighting is of central importance in Hamilton’s compositions and so too is colour. Vermeer’s chiaroscuro effects and the sunlight that slices through Hopper’s interiors are a continuing fascination and she has described her response to Van Gogh’s palette as visceral. No matter what her inspiration Hamilton has a singular vision that is conveyed through the use of a wide range of techniques. The paint is often applied to very large canvases in bold swathes of colour, but sometimes it is thinned and then heightened with fine detail. The result is always highly individual and modern.

introduction by michael goater

Interesting things happen when you’re away from Hamilton’s paintings - what were the figures doing? - surely the red dressed woman should be nearer the centre to balance the work? - if that’s a shadow, why is it such an intense colour? - and who else could paint lorries in the street with such a sense of serenity? Some notion of answers brings you back to her work - each time a little nearer - each time more fulfilling.

foreward by katherine hamilton

A lot of what I do comes from the atmosphere of a place or situation. The East Anglican Coast, the Cornish Coast as well as the West Coast of Scotland have all been a strong source of inspiration to me. Everyday activities surrounding the pace of life in coastal towns and fishing villages, the sudden changes of weather or light have all contributed to my paintings and my development. My work is almost exclusively carried out on the spot, it is the changing moments that happen while I am painting that fascinate me, not a fixed idea of a landscape composition.