Kate Marshall finds her passion for painting
With the universe on her side, Kate was able to make the leap from her job as a primary school teacher to taking her love for art to the next level.
Kate doesn’t remember when she first started painting – art and creative endeavours have been a part of her life for as along as she can remember.
“I would often spend nights in my bedroom as a teenager, not being able to sleep and found myself sketching under my bedside lamp until the late hours,” says the self-taught artist from Wagga Wagga, in New South Wales, Australia.
“In high school, I had a fascinating art teacher that I would admire as he’d sit and sketch and doodle during our art classes, and I found myself drawn to the freedom that creating art brought.”
You could often find Kate in the school art studio. “I just couldn’t get enough of it,” she says. Later in life in the classroom as a teacher, this was no different.
“Instilling a love of creating art was inevitable. I loved any opportunity to impact my knowledge and passion with my students and they loved it too.
“Our classroom was a living masterpiece, always evolving and beautiful – it was something we both were proud of. If I wasn’t painting, I was sewing, crocheting, drawing or restoring furniture with often many projects on the go at once.”
As it turned out, Kate was subconsciously searching for a “better version of life”.
“I think the universe definitely had its finger in the pie as it all evolved. I had been very unhappy at my workplace with a number of not so pleasant circumstances beyond my control, that when Covid hit in 2020 and an opportunity of working from home arose, I jumped at it.”
A break from the norm was certainly what Kate needed.
“Work became unbearable and I started painting some pieces for my own home. Painting was therapeutic and a safe haven from all the turmoil, that I found myself creating piece after piece.”
Not one for doing things by halves, the mum-of-three took the plunge.
“I registered a business name, started firstly with an Instagram account followed by Facebook, and then a month later had a website up and running. Fourteen months on, I haven’t looked back.”
Questions with Kate
What inspires your artworks?
1. The landscape. It provides so much natural beauty and wonder. I am so lucky to live up on a lovely big hill on the south- western side of town, overlooking the magnificent, ever-changing landscape from our sun-drenched north-facing home. The unique and lasting colour of the foliage and flowers and the beautiful changes they bring with the seasons, provides endless joy.
2. Interior design. Probably what I should have chosen to study at university. I have an eye for detail. I love creating functional and inspiring spaces that have a lived-in feel yet have an undertone of considered planning and purpose. This is something that I must explore further.
3. My children. The way they watch in wonder and provide their insightful and quirky critique as I create. I know they look with awe. I love every inch of it. The joy of creating something to be proud of, all the while unapologetically enjoying the process, is a lesson I know my children will value later in life.
What motives you to paint?
At first it was to escape my reality.
I was not good at going slow. Efficient in every sense of my being, every minute was coordinated and organised in order for our family to function, or so I thought. Spending time painting helped me to slow down and the more I did it the more I realised I needed to do it more. Now it’s literally becoming my career.
I love everything about setting up a profitable business and connecting with other like-minded women in business. It is so refreshing to share company with people who are motivated and willing to celebrate others, despite their level of success.
In addition to this, inspiring other women to challenge their circumstances and to take a leap of faith is something I love doing every day.
Your advice to other makers?
Learn to trust your heart. When things don’t feel right, they often aren’t.
Find the thing that makes your heart sing and do that! Easier said than done, I know, but you don’t have to follow the crowd. Most days you’ll doubt yourself in some way, but push through regardless. You’re usually only fighting a battle in your own head.
Show your true authentic self and make an effort to connect with others. People are watching and thirsty for honest interactions outside of their everyday circle. Be gentle, but hungry at the same time. Fight for happiness, you only get one go at life!
Wagga Wagga, Australia
