1 of 5
Kate Marshall - Artist
2 of 5
Kate Marshall - Artist
3 of 5
Kate Marshall - Artist
4 of 5
Kate Marshall - Artist
5 of 5
Kate Marshall - Artist
Kate Marshall - Artist
“As I teach sailing, people have always assumed I paint boats but I never really have,” Kate Marshall tells me, “ but whilst night sailing to Falmouth my thoughts turned to those below and so I have been inspired to explore stories of shipwrecks and the sea for my MA at Falmouth College of Art.” She packed her things into her family’s small sailing boat and sailed around the coast to anchor in the town’s harbour for the first three months of her course - directly adding to her inspiration.
“It definitely influenced me,” she said. “It was a very windy few months – some of the windiest on record - and I was lying in bed, reading about shipwrecks! It was quite scary but focused my thinking on the sea and its dangers. I’ve enjoyed sailing around the South West but many thousands have died on our coast. There are lots of uncompleted journeys for people along this stretch of water.”
Taking inspiration from the sea and from lines from Shakespeare’s the Tempest – the famous ‘Full Fathom Five…’ stanza - she plans to create works that she will sink in the sea for a number of months. She will then raise the sculptures and display them, as if they were a relic from a wreck.
Kate, who grew up around Dartmouth and learnt to sail on the Dart along with her sister Jess, has had an interesting journey to becoming an artist of some repute.
Educated at Stoke Fleming Primary and then Churston Grammar, she decided at an early age she wanted to be an artist.
“Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to be an artist,” she said. “I was always drawing or doing something that made a mess! I’ve been very lucky that both my parents supported me and let me follow that dream. I got a lot of encouragement from teachers too and studied at Falmouth for my Art Foundation and then to Goldsmiths in London to study Fine Art and Art History.”
Kate said the Goldsmith’s course attracted her as it allowed her to indulge her interest in the more academic study of culture and the importance of art in many fields as well as her own practice. “To begin with I struggled to marry my piles of notes and research to a visual practice, but eventually I think I have reached a happy balance” she said.
Moving back to the West Country after her course, Kate worked on the Dart at her sailing school (Marshall’s Sailing School) in Summer and used the quiet of the winter to continue working on her art. She also works at the town’s library, where her mother is head librarian but has never stopped exploring her art and different ways of approaching it.
“I didn’t want to live in London for ever and found myself drawn back to Devon, which is very inspiring” she said. “Although to begin with, I felt too close to the area to be able to respond to it with my art.It has been a gradual process; the landscape creeps in, not traditionally represented, but via locally sourced materials (like mud or even cow-dung) or by allowing the landscape to directly alter the art work. I don’t want to tie myself down to one art form, so I paint, draw and print and am currently working with ceramics and stitching a patchwork quilt from beachcombed fabric. I like to walk a lot and I swim in the sea most days, all year round! I’m not religious but that is the nearest thing for me – I love getting into the water!”
Kate has received accolades for her exhibitions, which often include live performance. She has never stopped exploring new avenues. A few years ago Kate travelled to India for a residency in a village in Odisha to learn new skills.
“It was an amazing time – I spent five weeks in the village learning new arts and crafts – it has influenced me ever since and I’m looking for more opportunities like it.”
Last autumn Kate committed to undertaking an MA in Art, Contemporary Practice at Falmouth University.
Living in part on her boat and partly in a yurt pitched in the Devon countryside, she also teaches art at Coombe Farm Studios. “I love teaching sailing and art, it is a real privilege to be able to share my passions with others.”
“My MA so far has been wonderfully inspiring and this has been a very exciting project for me. It has grown and developed organically. I love the West Country and the sea and this is the perfect way to marry my work to the place I call home.” • Marshall Sailing School 07973 520 515
First published By The Dart March 2014
