Katherine Chippindale
Katherine’s roots lie in West Yorkshire, and she is in fact is related to Thomas Chippendale the famous furniture designer and maker, whose name was originally spelt with an ‘i’ rather than and ‘e’, before he moved his workshop down to London in 1749.
It seems that artistic talent has been passed on from generation to generation , and Katherine comes from a talented artistic family , including her father who was a gifted craftsman.
Throughout her childhood she seems to have taken a keen interest in drawing and painting, and eventually her talents were recognised, and she was accepted as a textile design student at Hornsey College of Art one of the foremost art schools in the UK .
Later, Katherine’s travels took her to the Netherlands and Belgium, where she had the good fortune to meet up with a group of watercolourists in Antwerp. It was here that she developed her watercolour painting techniques, which enabled her to indulge in her passion for plants and flowers, which are the subject of the majority of her watercolour paintings.
After moving to the States, Katherine broadened her subjects to include landscapes and buildings that she found inspirational, including the Grand Canyon, and the Stardust hotel, in Las Vegas.
Since returning to the UK, Katherine has expanded her artistic techniques to include pastel work, which she has used to great effect with new subjects including boats, seascapes, sea birds, animals and exotic plants.
She says that her greatest satisfaction has been achieved through the sales of her artcards in The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
‘When I was a young student, I used to pay 1d to go into Kew Gardens and draw plants which gave me inspiration - now my drawings are giving back something to the plants, and supporting the good work that is done at Kew, – probably the foremost horticultural establishment in the world, and a place where I am constantly inspired today’.
Katherine and her family have recently moved down to Kent - she says , ‘ This is a beautiful county to live in ; the quality of light in particular is so inspirational , as William Turner once observed , that the sunsets over Thanet are some of the very best in Europe - I quite agree - I’ve never seen skies as beautiful as they are down here!’
About Ask4Art Ltd.
We are a family art publishing and licensing business, located in Littlebourne, near Canterbury, in Kent, in the South East of England.
The business is centred around the artwork of Katherine Chippindale, which we publish as ‘ The Chippindale Collection’.
Katherine paints in watercolour and draws in pastel, and we then reproduce her artwork as art cards, and notelets, which we supply to high quality retailers, including galleries, museums and garden shops. Our customers include the National Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens – Kew, and over 600 customers in the UK and Europe.
We also reproduce our decorative and inspirational artwork as high quality giclée prints and stretched canvas pictures, which are ideal for commercial, healthcare and residential projects. Our customers for prints include St. George (Berkeley Homes), Nuffield Hospitals, and the National Trust for Scotland.
Print sales, both offline and online, are a rapidly expanding part of our business, particularly since we have developed an entirely new product line, by reproducing watercolour paintings and pastel drawings directly onto canvas, using the latest digital printing technology.
All design, production, and sourcing is done here in the UK, and our policy is to use materials that eliminate or significantly reduce their environmental impact wherever possible.
At Ask4Art Ltd. we are focused on providing our customers with an exceptional range of products at a fair price. This has enabled us to grow and develop our company to a level where we can provide an excellent service to our customers through direct sales, direct mail, and online sales through our website.
As a policy, we also support charities that we believe can benefit from our help – for example, we have donated a percentage of sales to the R.N.L.I. in 2007. Prior to this, we supported one of our customers with Deaf Education in Africa. We are keen supporters of both the National Trust and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where our cards generate revenue for these organisations through sales in their retail outlets. We are constantly looking for suitable causes to support with our work, and welcome the opportunity to collaborate on projects where our artwork can add value.
Being a family business, you will find us passionate about what we do.
We offer a friendly, yet professional service to our customers, and we carefully select our suppliers, to work in true partnerships to bring our excellent products to market.
Your customers will appreciate the quality of our products and artwork - I am confident that you will enjoy the experience of being looked after by a quality company - please consider the Chippindale Collection the next time you are looking exceptional art cards and pictures.
Stephen J. Burt
Director
Ask4Art Ltd
scroll down
scroll down
Tel: 01227 721929
