Kate Gradwell British, Australian, b. 1972-
Kate was originally educated as a scientist and in 1997 was awarded a PhD in Chemistry from Oxford University. Kate has been painting full time since 2016. Rather than pursuing a formal art school education, she sought out inspiring and talented artists to learn from, and further developed her skills through her own exploration and rapidly growing knowledge of her materials and process.
Kate’s art practice is predominantly focused on people and place. Her portraiture seeks to capture the true character of the individuals she chooses to paint. Kates landscape work explores the play of light and colour in the natural world and is where her main passion lies.
In 2016 Kate was selected for the Portia Geach Memorial Award for Portraiture with a portrait of Professor Attila Brungs, and in 2019 she was selected as a finalist in the Archibald Prize for her portrait of Professor Michael McDaniel. Her landscape work has been selected to hang in the Northern Beaches, Bluethumb and Hunters Hill Art Prizes, amongst others. She held her first solo exhibition ‘A Moment in Time’ at the end of 2020 at Brenda Colahan Fine Art (BCFA) in Putney. Kate’s second solo exhibition ‘Close to Home’ was held at the end of 2021. Kate has also been recognised as being one of only 50 ‘Collectable’ artists on Australia’s top online art gallery platform Bluethumb out of over 11,000 artists across Australia and was named by them as one of the top 10 best new emerging Australian artists for 2021.
Kate takes commissions, both public and private, and has works hanging in collections in Australia (including in the University of Sydney and UTS collections), North America, Europe and Asia.
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Age of Innocence, 2022 Sold -
Both Beauty and Sadness, 2022 -
Brief Encounter, 2022 Sold -
Infinite Possibilities, 2022 Sold
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Learning to be astonished, 2022 -
Wild Erratic Fancy, 2022 Sold -
Afterglow, 2021 Sold -
Always in my Thoughts, 2021 Sold
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An Auspicious Start, 2021 Sold -
Beloved Land, 2021 Sold -
Can't Help Myself, 2021 Sold -
Ebb and Flow, 2021
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One Day at a Time, 2021 Sold -
Postponed Until Further Notice, 2021 -
Safe Harbour, 2021 Sold -
Spirited Away, 2021
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Tangled Up In Blue II, 2021 -
The Lookout, 2021 Sold -
The Only Way Out Is Through, 2021 Sold -
There and Back Again, 2021
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There Lies A Place, 2021 Sold -
Time Out, 2021 Sold -
Walk Just Walk, 2021 Sold -
A Strange End to a Strange year, 2020 Sold
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Burnt but still beautiful study I, 2020 Sold -
Catching Some Rays, 2020 -
Conjola Dreaming, 2020 Sold -
Every Leaf a Flower, 2020 Sold
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Feeed Meee, 2020 Sold -
Fleetingly, 2020 Sold -
Kiss The Sky, 2020 Sold -
Lake Conjola Gum Blossom, 2020 Sold
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When Shall We Three Meet Again, 2020 Sold -
...Perfect the Next, 2019 Sold -
Beautiful One Day..., 2019 Sold -
Bluster, 2019 Sold
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Breeze, 2019 Sold -
Chase The Light, 2019 Sold -
For the Love of Trees, 2019 Sold -
From the Water 3, 2019 Sold
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Exhibitions:
2022 Affordable Art Fair, Sydney. Brenda Colahan Fine Art
2022 In Our Nature Online group show curated by The Brush Artists
2021 New Narratives Group show, Sydney Road Gallery
2021 Close to Home, Brenda Colahan Fine Art
2019 Archibald Prize finalist
2019 Northbridge Art Prize finalist and winner of the Derivan Matisse Award for Excellence
in Acrylics
2019 Northern Beaches Art Prize finalist
2017 Northern Beaches Art Prize finalist
2016 Portia Geach Memorial Portrait Award finalist
2016 Warringah Art Prize finalist
2016 Hunters Hill Art Exhibition finalist
2016 Kirribilli Art Prize finalist
Commissions:
2019 Commission from UTS to paint the official portraits of the Chancellor and Vice-
Chancellor
2018 Commission from University of Sydney to paint a portrait of Associate Professor Ruth Gall – now hanging in main lecture theatre in the School of Chemistry
2018-19 Further 18 private individual portrait painting and drawing commissions and 6 landscape commissions.
Recognition:
2021 Finalist, Bluethumb Art Prize
2020 Finalist, Northern Beaches Art Prize
2020 Finalist, Carlingford Art Prize
2020 Finalist, Moonee Valley Art Prize
2019 Finalist, Northern Beaches Art Prize
2019 Finalist, Northbridge Art Prize, Winner of Excellence in Acrylics 2019 Finalist, Archibald Prize 2016 Finalist, Warringah Art Prize
2016 Finalist, Hunters Hill Art Prize
2016 Finalist, Portia Geach Portrait award
2016 Finalist, Kirribilli Art Prize Collections Three portraits currently on loan to University Technology of Sydney, including ‘Yindyamarra’ Portrait of Associate Professor Ruth Gall commissioned by University of Sydney, 2018
Publications:
‘Portrait’, Art and Words 2020, published by Northern Beaches Council and Manly Art Gallery ‘Killarney Heights Mum a 2019 Archibald Finalist’ 2019, Daily Telegraph, North Shore Times
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BCFA @ Affordable Art Fair
Stand C06 2 - 5 Jun 2022We are delighted to announce that Brenda Colahan Fine Art will be exhibiting a very select group of artworks at the inaugural Affordable Art Fair, Sydney, from 2nd -5th June...Read more -
Summer Collection
Beautiful works included in our summer collection 1 - 29 Feb 2020Read more