Katie Wilkins

Katie Wilkins lives in the Berkshire countryside. This setting is the inspiration for her work, which is primarily figurative oil paintings of animals close to her home.

From an early age she enjoyed art and this prompted her to take a foundation course at Northbrook College in Horsham, West Sussex. During this course she experimented with a range of media and subject matter. Katie then moved on to the University of Plymouth (in Exeter) to study for a degree in Fine Art. During her time in Exeter she worked hard to develop her figurative painting skills, often against the advice of her tutors, who urged her to develop a more conceptual style. In 1996 she graduated with an honours degree.

Katie specialises in painting livestock, taking sketches and photographs and then working from them in her studio. She works in oils on thick boxed canvases which have several layers of gesso applied to them. When the gesso is dry, she carefully sands it until it develops a slightly shiny surface which provides the background to her work.