About

Catherine Beale in the studio — In the studio

I am a painter specialising in light-filled watercolours. I am particularly drawn to larger-than-life sized head and shoulder portraits where there is space for watercolours to flow and “sing”. By casting my subjects in strong lighting and controlling the way light falls, I create intimate records of families and individuals.

My portrait practice began in Singapore twenty years ago. After my return to the UK in 2006, I opened my own studio/gallery in the World Heritage City of Bath, England. I now paint daily from my hillside studio where I continue to experiment and exploit the behaviours of flowing watercolour pigments in a technique I have called “gravity painting”. This cascading technique enables pigments to mingle and react within running water.

My paintings hang in private collections worldwide, including the Singapore Presidential Palace and have been gifted to HRH Prince Edward by the British High Commission in Singapore. I have exhibited with the Royal Watercolour Society and Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and I am an elected Associate Member of the Society of Women Artists, exhibiting annually at the Society’s summer exhibition. Closer to home, I exhibit in Bath and Wiltshire and help to run the Widcombe Art Trail. I share my painting techniques with art groups, in my own schedule of adult workshops, in schools and in articles for The Artist Magazine.