Cathy Whittall BSc

Cathy Whittall is a British artist, illustrator and graphic designer based in Worcestershire, UK. Her practice moves fluidly between oil painting, watercolour and digital illustration, bringing together a love of vibrant wildlife, botanical forms, expressive portraiture and architectural detail.

Colour, observation and character are central to Cathy’s work. Whether portraying the movement and intensity of wildlife, the intricate forms found in nature, the individuality of a person or the distinctive details of a building, she seeks to create work that goes beyond simple representation. Her paintings and illustrations explore the connections people form with the natural world, with one another and with the places that hold personal meaning.

Cathy’s artistic practice is also deeply informed by personal experience. Following the death of her eldest son, Zachary, in 2014, drawing and painting became an important means of expression and resilience. During the court

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Cathy Whittall is a British artist, illustrator and graphic designer based in Worcestershire, UK. Her practice moves fluidly between oil painting, watercolour and digital illustration, bringing together a love of vibrant wildlife, botanical forms, expressive portraiture and architectural detail.

Colour, observation and character are central to Cathy’s work. Whether portraying the movement and intensity of wildlife, the intricate forms found in nature, the individuality of a person or the distinctive details of a building, she seeks to create work that goes beyond simple representation. Her paintings and illustrations explore the connections people form with the natural world, with one another and with the places that hold personal meaning.

Cathy’s artistic practice is also deeply informed by personal experience. Following the death of her eldest son, Zachary, in 2014, drawing and painting became an important means of expression and resilience. During the court proceedings surrounding his death, she returned to drawing and created an image of a kingfisher. This moment reaffirmed the importance of creativity in her life and became part of a wider exploration of loss, memory and resilience within her work.

This exploration subsequently developed into a series of large-scale oil portraits created from conversations and photographic studies with people who had experienced profound loss. Through these works, Cathy explored how individuals live with grief and how resilience, identity and transformation can emerge from deeply personal experiences. One of these large-scale portraits is now held in the collection of Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.

Cathy’s formal creative journey began with a Foundation in Art and Photography at St Helens College of Art and Design in 1984. She continued her artistic development through the study of portraiture at Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea in 2018. In May 2019, she graduated with a BSc from the Open University at the Barbican in London, before beginning a Master’s degree in Fine Art at De Montfort University later that year, further developing and expanding her contemporary fine art practice.

Throughout her career, Cathy has exhibited at venues across the North West and East Midlands, while her work has reached a wider international audience through online galleries and collections. She has also undertaken numerous private commissions in oils, watercolour and digital illustration, working closely with clients to create highly individual pieces with a strong sense of personal connection.

Alongside her studio practice, Cathy is a member of Stratford-upon-Avon Art Society and the Vale of Evesham Art Society, maintaining an active connection with the wider artistic community.

Across the different strands of her practice, Cathy combines traditional observation with a contemporary approach to colour, composition and medium. From the delicacy of botanical subjects and the energy of British wildlife to intimate portraiture and architectural studies, her work is united by a desire to capture character, emotion and a sense of place.

Ultimately, Cathy’s work invites the viewer to pause and look more closely, to notice the beauty and individuality of the world around them and to recognise the memories, connections and quiet resilience that can be held within an image.