What I love most...
‘The spontaneity of creating work That is so varied – working on special commissions and making beautiful packaging To add That finishing Touch’
out a shop front, saying that she would love some help on a new project: moving her business, Rosehip, from a barn at home into a small shop, selling all things French, rustic and handmade.
‘My parents had owned shops before, but helping to launch this new venture marked a turning point for me. I helped them set up, and took on another part-time job, too. My days off were spent painting and stitching.
‘Before travelling, I had created a stitched hydrangea painting that had been much admired. Now I began to fine-tune my style, and showed my first collection of large-scale botanical paintings six months later, in 2012, at Rosehip and at another shop, The Bell Jar, in Norwich. This was the start of Oyster Bridge & Co and I haven’t looked back.’
The business was started without any investment. ‘I lived at home and saved to buy paints, papers, a sewing machine, threads and frames. Everything has evolved organically and a friend taught me how to frame to keep overheads down.’
Kate’s studio, based at her parents’ rural Suffolk farmhouse, looks out over cornfields and wild hedgerows to the front, and to a quintessentially English country garden at the back. The peaceful white-washed, beamed room with its wonky red brick floor is an airy space, full of creative nooks containing moodboards and endless inspirations for Kate’s work. Antique armoires and time-worn desks are home to papers, collected dried flowerheads and old French pots filled with paintbrushes. ‘Being original is important to me, I never reproduce paintings; they evolve naturally with their unique details. Beautiful packaging is also important – I want my parcels to be a joy to open; it’s part of the magic.’
Kate’s highly coveted work is sold via Instagram, online with Rosehip and a few other independent stockists, and at exclusive fairs, including The Decorative Living Fair and The Country Brocante. ‘Social media has raised my profile and has generated lots of bespoke commissions, along with branding and logo work for specific clients. I love the diversity and freedom that comes with your own business. My pieces are affordable enough to treat yourself, but not everyday. My designs are constantly evolving and
I’m constantly working on new collections.
‘Coming back to Suffolk has proved the catalyst for so much: the start of my business and a new timber-framed home that my boyfriend Ali has just finished building for us. I have a small workspace there, too, but will keep my studio at my parents’. It has been the inspiration for everything and I am very grateful.’