Kate Walters: The Still Unravished Bride

Kate Walters studied Fine Art at Brighton University. In February 2019, she had a solo show and book launch at Arusha Gallery in Edinburgh. Another exhibition of new paintings will be held at Arusha in a year or so. Kate is currently working in oil paint, and is enjoying spending a year exploring this medium again.

"When lockdown began all my teaching was cancelled. I was worried about my financial situation, but excited at the prospect of having several weeks, possibly months, of almost uninterrupted studio time. I applied for ACE funding and was overjoyed to receive financial help.This time also coincided with my return to oil painting, after of ten years. Another coincidence was my return (after twenty years) to psychotherapy.

I wanted to look at some of the most difficult and hidden areas of my inner life. In tandem with this I began to write love letters to my inner male. These letters have been vital to my painting, helping to bring light and form to concepts which were shaky and somewhat clouded - like the leopard which visited in my dreams around this time. Such a period of intense inner work, in conjunction with therapy, would suggest the surfacing of vivid dreams; I was no exception. I’ve had months of strange sleeping patterns and strong dreams, many of which are very erotic.

In my new paintings I’ve cast aside all worries about politeness and restraint. I celebrate Venus and all her lovers, and I delight in how they can bring tenderness and the deepest of feelings into this world. I’ve also begun to draw together threads from thirty years of dreaming and shamanic work, forming a constellation with my psychotherapeutic illuminations and painting insights. These threads I'm weaving into a book, which will be published in the next year or two.

Every morning I wake early and sit in bed writing up notes from all my note/sketch books; I’ve also begun to draw on my iPad, works which relate to my paintings and my therapy, celebrating the spirit beings who visit me in these works - the white serpent, spirit horse, power animal, Black Madonna, leopard, deer, my body’s dreaming and sexual centres, and the heart beings and the tiny sprites of water, sun, and tears."

You can see more examples of Kate's paintings and writing on her website. 

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