About me
As an award-winning artist I produce work on Scottish landscape and industries using oil paint and intaglio printmaking techniques.
Drawing is the root of my work. My work has a foundation of fine art skills but also embraces contemporary context. Expressive mark-making, intense and loosely-drawn lines amalgamate on the surface of each body of work. My latest work reflects the industrial life of the shipyards along the waterfront of Aberdeen. Contemporary etchings of industrial scenes transport the viewer into a world of arresting detail and mechanised splendour. The atmospheric dramas of the docks deliver an intimate narrative of the relationship between man and machine.
A new body of work entitled 'Heli Galore' is under way. I am currently working at Aberdeen Heliport capturing every aspect of the helicopter industry, from flying, maintenance, repair and overhaul to the passengers travelling to and from the ships and platforms that make up their offshore workplaces. Access to the heliport has been granted by the largest helicopter services company in the world, Canadian Holding Company.
Projects
- Heli Galore - Series IA new body of work entitled 'Heli Galore' is under way. I am currently working at Aberdeen Heliport capturing every aspect of the helicopter industry, from flying, maintenance, repair and overhaul to the passengers traveling to and from the ships and platforms that make up their offshore workplaces. Access to the heliport has been granted by the largest helicopter services company in the world, Canadian Holding Company. Series I of project Heli Galore shows contemporary prints (limited
- Via BorgoThe Tuscan etchings have been published on the Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) website: "Via Borgo I & II" (etching) by Kate Steenhauer. Chosen by Colin Greenslade, RSA Director. Semi-formed buildings and alleyways, glimpsed through rolling mist and haze, guide us through a slow-burn Tuscan night. With the romance of silence and mystery, a hint of gothica and a quietening heat, we are drawn into ancient vennels in the gloaming. A frisson of excitement and danger....the imagination runs wild...
- Scotland at DuskThe project Scotland at Dusk is a series of large-scale monochromatic impressions of an iconic landscape, made possible with financial assistance from the Visual Artists Award, Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire 2012. The body of themed work consists of drawings on wooden panels using traditional media such as charcoal, chalk and pencil and prints using the techniques of etching, dry-point and aquatint. The work has been exhibited at VISUAL ARTS SCOTLAND and the RSA in Edinburgh and one piece was on display at the DERWENT ART PRIZE exhibition in the Mall Galleries in London. The quintessence of the Scottish landscape is not restricted to the boundaries of national parks or nature reserves, but one that can be seen from any doorstep in the country. This is a landscape that deserves rediscovery. Having lived and worked in Scotland for the last six years, I explore the landscape not only from an outsider’s point of view, but also in a different light. I show Scotland at dusk through the integration of traditional influences and modern ideas. The Visual Artists Award enabled me to create a body of themed work, consisting of drawings on wooden panels using traditional media such as charcoal, chalk and pencil and prints using the techniques of etching, dry-point and aquatint. Inspired by The Hague School, whose emphasis lay on painting nature as they saw it, I create scenes at dusk, that time of day when tone takes precedence over colour, aiming to convey the mood within a limited palette of colours. The Scottish landscape lends itself greatly to interpretation in black, grey and white. Muted tones can dramatise so much better the degree of ruggedness, vastness or stillness surprisingly found so close to our civilisation. Initially defined by dramatic outlines on the horizon, the scene evolves as the viewer becomes accustomed, as when you are entering a darkened room. Subtle nuances reveal themselves, unveiling increasing layers of detail. The impression conceals and reveals, aiming to draw the viewer in, to uncover what is often forgotten or taken for granted. As the landscape has a significant impact on the consciousness of people, the manner of execution allows the audience to see their relationship with the land in a different way.
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Work history
Artist in Residence at CHC Heliport Aberdeen
Artist in Residence creating the contemporary project entitled Heli Galore.
Artist in Residence
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Artist in Residence creating the contemporary project entitled Shipyards of Aberdeen.
Skills
- Visual Arts
- Drawing
- Painting
- Printmaking
- Fine Art
Education
Coastal Engineering
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Coastal Engineering
Awards
RSA Latimer Award
Royal Scottish Academy
The Aberdeenshire VISUAL ARTISTS' AWARD
Aberdeen City & Aberdeenshire