CHARACTER: ARTIST KAY ANDREWS
Alice Griffin chats to the former university lecturer for whom canal art started a new chapter in her historical research.
A CHILDHOOD copy of the Ladybird book, The Story of our Canals, was canal artist Kay Andrews’ trusted companion when taking herself from zero knowledge to proficient singlehanded narrowboater in the space of four weeks.
“A strange twist of events, mixed with a possible midlife crisis, brought me to the water in 2016. I’m not sure my handbook was the best choice for such a steep learning curve, but I’m still here now!” Kay told me.
For six to seven months of the year Kay lives with Monte the ginger cat on her boat Pea Green, a 1973 Braunston Boat built by Chris Barney, and referred to as a Barney Boat.
Originally named The Go Between, Kay tells me that there are quite a few Barney Boat fans out there, as well as others who simply love the sound of her 8hp Sabb HG engine. “It's a bit like driving a Morris Minor down the street with these classic early leisure narrowboats!”
Pea Green is Kay’s first boat, as well as her first experience of narrowboats in general. “I found her on Preloved and she was the only one I viewed. I knew absolutely nothing about narrowboats, but was taken by her shape and the roses painted inside.”
It was appreciation for these paintings that sparked an interest in traditional art and set Kay on a whole new course. “I only started painting three years ago, prior to that my only experience was emulsion on walls!”
To begin with, Kay was selftaught, but in order to grow her style she spent a day with Julie Tonkin, an accredited senior journeyman in decorative art with the Waterways Craft Guild. “She really helped me develop my work and since then my style has become my own, but I hope it has echoes of the past.”
Kay paints both traditional and non-traditional canal-related items. “I realise that some might find this problematic, however my view is that if people engage with the art and want to find out more, plus recognise how today’s art is different, then such untraditional items may have a place in contemporary canal culture and memory.”
With her narrowboat being built in Braunston, and having lived in Northamptonshire for a long time, it seemed logical that Kay’s roses had a Braunston link.
“My roses are loosely based on the long tradition that came from Braunston, but my yellow roses give a nod to Tooley’s boatyard on the Oxford.”
This nod is due to Tooley’s being where Tom and Angela Rolt bought the boat – Cressy – that would take them around the canal system, leading to the 1944 book Narrow Boat and the consequent formation of the Inland Waterways Association.
Kay’s interest in the background of our canals undoubtedly comes from her previous life as a university lecturer in history. “As a historian I am very interested in the social history of canal life, so of course when I began to paint I researched styles of canal art and its influences.”
Generally, canal art was developed in boatyards and spots on the cut where boats were repaired and worked on. Masters taught apprentices how to paint, and as a result specific styles emerge from different areas.
Like Kay, I too am particularly intrigued by the history of women folk artists. “Many of the named painters we know of are men. This stands to reason as it was the men working in the boatyards yet, I wonder how many unsigned pieces were painted by women who lived and worked alongside their families on the boats?”
Kay’s favourite painters today are all women: “Julie Tonkin, Ruth Chamberlain and Christine Wood are artists I admire. All too often women don't shout loud enough about the work they do and I think these women and their skilled work needs mentioning.” Folk art, by its very nature, is always shifting and developing and Kay hopes her work adds in some small way.
Trading as a pop-up in the summer, beginning at Welford and Foxton locks and continuing wherever the watery road takes her, Kay has also participated in waterway festivals and is a member of the Roving Canal Traders Association, as well as selling online.
Additionally, Kay is happy to give talks and teach small groups at her house in Northamptonshire. “Buying my boat, learning to paint and becoming a trader, has revealed a whole world that embarrassingly, I had little knowledge of. It has also been fabulous to make new friends across the country via a love of the waterways.”