KATE BENTLEY

Kate Bentley began her artistic journey as a sculptor and theatre designer, later transitioning to a full-time professional painter in 1999.

She is an elected member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour and the Society of Women Artists. Her work is deeply informed by her surroundings and the landscape, reflecting her identity as a "painter of life."

Bentley’s practice is grounded in en plein air painting and life drawing, which provide the foundation for her narrative works. These paintings reflect her enduring fascination with the human form, pattern, chiaroscuro and theatricality.

In the studio, she engages in an intuitive process of mark-making, revisiting earlier studies, and reworking older pieces through extensive experimentation. Themes emerge organically, often resonating with personal experiences, both past and present. Her passion for layering, texture, and expressive mark-making fuels a continual evolution in her work. Through this process, Bentley’s narrative paintings explore the complexities of human experience and the quiet beauty of the natural world.