Catherine Beale

I am a portrait artist working primarily in watercolours from my Bath studio/gallery. Before 2006 I lived and worked in Singapore and Malaysia painting to commission & exhibition.

Contrary by nature, perhaps I am provoked into painting strong portraits in watercolours by the medium's apparent rarity within the genre. Watercolours have been pegged as a "medium of amateurs", can be seen as a sketching tool before the "proper" paint is applied or useful to "dash off" an impression of the great outdoors. I think/hope this may be changing.

Instead, my watercolours are applied in a controlled studio setting, utilising current technology and a range of methods, from carefully placed layers to a myriad of juxtaposed hues applied wet-in-wet.

I primarily paint portraits of people, interested in their power to create a strong, personal encounter with the viewer. I try to make the "created meeting" feel more real by directing a subject's gaze straight at the viewer. They communicate a feeling or thought which I hold onto while I paint.

My other interest is to communicate light in paint. My painting style developed over eleven years living in the strong tropical light of South East Asia. My subjects are often shown in a single so...

BA Hons Nottingham Uni
Life Drawing - Saied Dai
Botanical watercolours - Julia Tricky
Painting from imagination - Nicola Slattery

2013-present Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2013 Award, Editor of The Artists Magazine - Society of Women Artists, Mall Galleries
2012 Royal Watercolour Society Contemporary Watercolour Competition, Bankside Gallery,
2011 Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, Mall Galleries
2011 Royal West of England Academy Autumn Exhibition, Bristol
2013, 2011, 2010, 2007 Bath Society of Artists Summer Show
2010 Holburne Portrait Prize, Bath
2010 Pride of Bath Lion Sculpture Project sponsored by principal investments management
2008 King Bladuds Pigs Bath Sculpture Project sponsored bu Audi
2005 Solo Exhibition Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
1999 Solo Exhibition Singapore - Caldwell House Exhibition Rooms
1998 Solo Exhibition Singapore - British High Commissioners Residence