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Lyrical floral fantasies

Nature and wildlife have always been the inspiration behind Kay’s work. During the summer months she leaves home at dawn in order to catch the flowers as they are opening, laden with dew, and often spotting bees which are still dormant on a bloom, giving her ample time to capture a series of close-up images on which to base her next painting. She photographs her floral subjects at every stage of their life cycle. To her eyes, a windblown bloom which has lost half of its petals is as valid as a perfectly formed bud, in that it has its own natural beauty and charm.

Kay creates her foreground in oils as she loves their versatility and their quality of allowing the perfect blend of colour and texture but lays this against an acrylic background. She will occasionally embellish a piece with gold or silver leaf to highlight details. She describes herself as having a rather dreamy, happy nature and she believes her personality comes across in her work.

Kay has been painting professionally for over 20 years. The defining moment in her career was being taken to an exhibition of work by wildlife artist David Shepherd. She recalls: “One of the paintings contained a bramble bush covered in frost. I remember standing and staring at all the many colours he had used to create the frost – I was fascinated by the blues greys and purples combining to produce that beautiful image and it was at this precise moment that I decided I wanted to become a professional artist.”

Kay lived for some years in Cyprus, but was drawn back by her longing for the flowers and wildlife of the English countryside, and she is now based in rural Cheshire.