“I have loved nature all my life, it is the backbone of everything,” says 18-year-old artist Kate Powell. Driven by art since she was just 2 years old, Kate is still pursuing her dream and has started to take her art more seriously since 2011. Since then she’s been working with photography, paint, and mixed media, but always seem to drift back to the pencil to draw. While it’s obvious that nature is a major influence to her work (specifically flowers and butterflies), Kate has also been taking visions from daydreams, and even trying to capture human emotions, like the third piece above. Many of her works also double as a journey of self-discovery and understanding, as if finding out more about herself in portraits. She uses aspects of nature to depict both “natural” and “human” beauty, combining them to portray very real emotions as well as unique characteristics that define us. Kate says that butterflies, also in reference to the Butterfly Project, have always been a symbol of hope for her. This makes it clear that nature can act as tools both for beauty and symbolism; articluating more than a first glance can take in.

As for advice for fellow artists, Kate sticks by one message: find what you like about a piece and work from there. Start by drawing things you are comfortable with, and keep developing that until it grows; just keep drawing. She also whole-heartedly reccomends the book Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon, finding it very helpful in time of artist’s block.

Kate currently studies art at Leeds College of Art in England, and hopes to continue on in a BA course within the next few years.

Kate’s tumblr
Kate’s art page