The beginning of The Most Curious Kat
I’m so excited to be able to share my new website and my love of creating with you. 6 months ago launching a website was the last thing on my mind!
I have been working in the Film and Television industry for 18 years, with the last 5 years of this feeling like a juggling act of work and family life. It’s hard, and there are a lot of compromises which I struggled to come to terms with. Industry hours are long and I wouldn’t see my kids for 3 days of the week, my husband was cutting his working day short (and then working in the evenings to catch up) to be able to do the drop off and pick ups at Nursery and School. We were living a frantic, hectic lifestyle which, coupled with the joys of my Rheumatoid Arthritis (the fatigue is a sneaky beast which creeps up on you just when you’re feeling productive; grrr!), meant that I often felt drained of all my energy and creativity.
Then, Lockdown happened. The job I was working on stopped production and I was at home either glued to the news or social media fretting about everything that was going on. It wasn’t healthy and I didn’t know what I could do that would help. Thankfully, I saw a post on Instagram by the lovely Danielle who also wanted to help somehow and was asking if anyone wanted to get involved creating content for families stuck in lockdown. So I got in touch; “I can draw!” I said, and offered my services. Next thing you know we are producing free downloadable worksheets for families to help keep kids entertained over lockdown. It felt so good to be drawing, painting and being creative again, I felt as though I had a purpose, I felt as though I was helping in some way. I stopped watching the news and set myself social media boundaries. It was the beginning of a beautiful collaboration, and the kick up the proverbial I needed to make The Most Curious Kat a reality!
The Most Curious Kat has been a dream I have had for about 10 years, I wasn’t always sure what it would actually tangibly be, but I knew that I wanted to create magical things to share with other people. The illustrations I’ve made over the course of Lockdown have led me along a new path of possibilities as an illustrator and enabled my dream to become a reality!
It’s been SO exciting to be able to put together a Greetings card collection for you, from Happy Birthday and New Baby, to New Home. Especially for our current climes I’ve created my “Give a Little Love” section of my shop so you can send a card to someone you are thinking of; I like to think of them as a hug in a card, as that’s something I know we are all missing from our nearest and dearest at the moment.
I have widened this range to include Giclée prints too, perfect for your gallery wall, your baby’s nursery or a unique gift for a friend.
Along my journey so far I’ve been posting on my Instagram, so if you follow me there then you’ll know a little of my story so far. I feel honoured to have been commissioned to do some illustrations; you can see those here. I love a commission; working through someone’s ideas and creating a vision for them. It’s a very personal and meaningful piece of art and it is a joy to be trusted to bring someone’s vision to a reality.
It has been quite an eye opener setting up this website; I’ll admit I was a little naive thinking that I could magically create this in a month! Ha! But, I’ve done it! From those first doodles, to ordering the first proofs of my cards, choosing the type of card, envelope colours, designing stickers for the packaging and getting my head around the postage and packing options (argh!), it’s been quite the adventure!
I hope that you love my illustrations as much as I have enjoyed creating them! Welcome to my illustrated world… it’s fun here; stay a while and browse my little shop of curiosities!