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
Award winning Artist, Writer and Illustrator Catherine Hyde lives in Helston in Cornwall and works in her ‘studio in the sky’ at the top of her Victorian house. 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 best-illustrated book 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 reproductions of her paintings and sells these along with cards, books and originals in the online Catherine Hyde Shop.
EVENTS 2024
May/June: Cornwall Open Studios
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
STATEMENT
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 ‘60’s and ‘70’s to roam and play outside all day long. This, combined with a home full of poetry and 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 back again and again to the worlds of John Masefield, L.M Boston, Eleanor Farjeon, Elizabeth Goudge, C.S. Lewis and the mighty Alan Garner – writers who dealt not just with a fantasy world but with myth, archetype and magic.
Having studied A level Art, English Literature and History I went on to train 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 began. I became increasingly fascinated by folklore, the imagery of the Green Man, the mythology of the hare and of course the cycle of the seasons.
With such a rich background it is perhaps not surprising that I love referencing symbols and archetypes, layering meanings, and striving to create an atmosphere that touches upon the liminal. From an early age I felt 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 own work explored a need to convey the spirit and sense of place with an internal, personal response. In my own work in trying to evoke visceral sensations of being the watcher in the landscape my aim is to paint with as much wonder as I felt watching the full moon rise over the garden trees as a child.
My journey into illustration has only been a significant part of my practice over the last decade. In this time the boundaries, such as they are, between my painting and my illustration have become happily mixed and I like to reference works on canvas with words from books and poetry and bring as many painterly qualities to my illustrations as possible.
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
Publication date 10 October 2024: DARKLING: The Owl’s Song: Apollo (an imprint of Bloomsbury)
The Bee and The Sun: a calendar of herbs by Catherine Hyde: Zephyr 2021
Winner of the Holyer an Gof Award for Poetry
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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 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 by Jackie Morris: Frances Lincoln
Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Award
.
Firebird by Saviour Pirrotta: Templar
Awarded an Aesop Accolade by the American Folklore Society
Nominated for the Kate Greenaway Award
.
The Princess’s Blankets by Carol Ann Duffy: Templar
Winner of the English Association Best Illustrated book Key Stage 2
