My husband Mike and I are musicians and we have written, performed and toured together for over forty years. In the recent pandemic my focus necessarily changed and the activities of daily life filled my horizons. Lockdown meant that all our gigs were postponed for two years and the orbit of our lives became our home and immediate surroundings in South Devon.
Looking for the larger meaning in small things, I started a series of oils and watercolours I have called Writing the Song. When young I trained as a painter and music came later in my life. The two disciplines inform one another and both are central to me. These most recent paintings have uncovered a new seam, and the journey is just beginning.
Kate Westbrook
Kate Westbrook was born in Britain and grew up in the U.S.A. and Canada before going to Dartington Hall School in Devon. From there she went to Bath Academy of Art at Corsham and then to Reading University. Later she lived and worked on the East and West coasts of America. The first one-man show of her paintings was held at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in California, in 1965. After travelling in Mexico she returned to England and took up a part-time teaching post at Leeds College of Art. She continues to exhibit her work in solo and group shows. Her work is in public and private collections
In 1974 she joined the Mike Westbrook Band and gave up teaching to concentrate on the dual career of painter and musician. She has performed all over Europe and as far afield as the far East and North America. As a singer/songwriter she is featured on over 20 albums, and she has worked in theatre, radio, and TV.