She is, if you will, a visual poet weaving images, symbols and archetypes into paintings that resonate in the subconscious and linger there like half-remembered dreams or the dark fairy stories with which she has such affiliation
Pip Palmer, Galleries Magazine
ABOUT CATHERINE HYDE
Award winning artist, poet and photographer Catherine Hyde lives in Helston in Cornwall and works in her ‘studio in the sky’ at the top of her Victorian home.
She trained in Fine Art Painting at The Central School of Art in London and is renowned for her symbolic, atmospheric paintings and her poetic books.
Winner of the Holyer an Gof Award for Poetry for The Bee and The Sun (Zephyr) and The English Association Award for The Princess’ Blankets by Carol Ann Duffy (Templar), all of her children’s picture books have been nominated for the prestigious Kate Greenaway Award for Illustration.
She produces hand-printed limited edition giclee reproductions of her paintings and sells these along with her cards, books and originals in the online Catherine Hyde Shop.
ARTIST STATEMENT
A Sense of Wonder
Moving to Cornwall with my beloved family over twenty years ago was a dream come true. It is a land of light and shade, secretive woodlands, flooded inlets and silver seas. It is ancient, full of stories and a constant source of joy.
I grew up in the ancient port town of Gravesend in North Kent experiencing a more urban than rural childhood but with the freedom, as was common in the ’60s and ’70s to roam and play outside all day long. This, combined with a home full of books, visits to museums and galleries, outings to castles, prehistoric sites and ancient chalk carvings all fuelled my imagination.
As a child, I was lucky enough to be a precocious reader: from an early age I galloped through Grimm (with terror at my heels), constantly revisited the melancholy world of Hans Christian Andersen and gleefully recited the poetry of AA Milne and Spike Milligan. As I grew older I read voraciously but my greatest love became increasingly for stories where I found not just lyricism but a suggestion of something more indefinable: the mystery of the landscape shaped by layers of time and the workings of man. I was drawn to the worlds of John Masefield, L.M Boston, Eleanor Farjeon, Elizabeth Goudge, C.S. Lewis and the mighty Alan Garner, whose stories were based in the real world but infused with layers of myth, archetype and magic.
Having studied A-level Art, English Literature and History I trained in Fine Art Painting at Central School of Art in London. At the end of the three years, much as I enjoyed London, I was ready to leave city life and my love affair with the countryside truly began. I became increasingly fascinated by folklore, the imagery of the Green Man, the mythology of the hare and binding it all together, the cycle of the seasons.
With such a rich background it is perhaps not surprising that I have grown to love referencing symbols and archetypes, layering meaning to create an atmosphere that touches upon the liminal. From an early age, I have had an affinity with the Neo-Romantic painters of the 20th century who looked back at the vision and poetry of William Blake and Samuel Palmer and in their work explored a need to convey spirit and sense of place with an internal, personal response. In my painting,I aim to respond to the world around me with the same wonder I had as a child hearing the blackbird’s song striking colour into a gloomy afternoon, or watching the moon rise over the garden wall.
MIXED AND SOLO SHOWS
Lighthouse Gallery, Penzance
Foss Fine Art London
John Noott Gallery, Broadway
Ainscough Contemporary London
Beaux Art Bath
Mall Galleries London
Lemon Street Gallery Truro
Iona House Gallery Woodstock
Charleston Farmhouse Sussex
Elementum Gallery, Sherborne
The Yew Tree Gallery Morvah Cornwall
The Illustration Gallery London
Falmouth Art Gallery
Towner Gallery Eastbourne
Twenty Twenty Gallery Much Wenlock
BOOKS
DARKLING, THE OWL’S SONG
Apollo (an imprint of Bloomsbury) Non fiction: Nature poetry
‘Prize-winning poet and artist Catherine Hyde celebrates the magic of the night from dusk till dawn’
‘Darkling is a magnificent praise song that honours both the darkness and the owl. Lyrical in both word and image, it is a wild triumph.’ Jackie Morris
I turn to the old orchard where she hunts: a ghost glimmering sweet heart of the moon. Swooping between trees, a beating clock of claw and feather, hush winged, in half light
THE BEE AND THE SUN
The Bee and The Sun: a calendar of herbs by Catherine Hyde: Zephyr 2021
Winner of the Holyer an Gof Award for Poetry
THE HARE AND THE MOON
The Hare and the Moon: a calendar of paintings by Catherine Hyde:Zephyr
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Editions 1 – 5: Elementum Journal
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The Snow Angel by Lauren St John: Zephyr
THE STAR TREE
The Star Tree by Catherine Hyde: Frances Lincoln
Shortlisted for the 2017 Cambridgeshire Children’s Picture Book Award
Nominated for The Kate Greenaway Award
LITTLE EVIE IN THE WILD WOOD
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Little Evie in the Wild Wood by Jackie Morris: Frances Lincoln
Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Award
FIREBIRD
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Firebird by Saviour Pirrotta: Templar
Awarded an Aesop Accolade by the American Folklore Society
Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Award
THE PRINCESS’ BLANKETS
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The Princess’s Blankets by Carol Ann Duffy: Templar
Winner of the English Association Best Illustrated book Key Stage 2
Nominated for UKLA and The Kate Greenaway Award
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BIO
b.1960 Dartford, Kent
1979/82: BA (Hons) Fine art painting Central School of Art, London
1978/9: Foundation studies Medway College of Design, Kent
