Katie Tunn, Isle of Skye Artist, Ocean Artist, Figurative Artist

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Katie was born in Windsor and studied BA Fine Art at Central St Martins. In 2014 she moved from London to the Isle of Skye where she now has a studio and gallery.

Katie is well known for her ocean-inspired 'Blue Planets' paintings although she began her artistic career as a portrait painter. After moving to Skye she became enthralled by the colours and moods of the Hebridean Seas and her artwork followed suit. Katie has exhibited in England, Scotland and internationally.

NOTABLE SERIES/PORTFOLIO

'Blue Planets' Paintings

The 'Blue Planets' paintings are inspired by the patterns and colours of the water around Skye. They are mixed media paintings on canvas or board using inks, acrylics, enamels and foils which are then varnished with a clear resin coating to add depth and give the effect of being underwater. The colours of the Hebridean seas, the shapes of Highland geology and coastlines, together with the depth of the clear night skies, are reflected in the jewel-like circular pieces.

They are based on moments of connection with the landscape... Looking down from a bow into dark-blue depths, glancing up at a starry sky with a hint of the Northern Lights or gazing across stormy waters from a clifftop...

Those who know the islands might recognise the turquoise colour as that from the beaches of Harris or waterfalls of the Fairy Pools. The combination of inks, paints, and enamels means that each painting is unique. They are covered with an organically poured clear resin to give an antique glass-like finish.

'Oor Wullie'

Charity Sculpture

In 2019 Katie took part in the charity art event, The Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail, to help raise money for the Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity. 'Oor Wullie' is a much-loved Scottish comic book character and a variety of artists from around the country were selected to paint an Oor Wullie statue in their own design. Katie's sculpture was titled 'Island Wullie' and it featured her signature ocean-blue base overlaid with gold outlines of each Scottish island.

'Island Wullie' was installed outside the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow in 2019 and it became a popular attraction for visitors and tourists. Later in 2019 the sculpture was auctioned at an event held at the Kelvingrove and the art trail raised £1.3 million for children's hospital charities in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Conceptual Work

Katie has created a variety of conceptual installations, sculptures and paintings for exhibitions and shows across the UK. Some of her most notable pieces are listed below.

'Fin' (The future of sharks), 2014, acrylic paint on circular canvas.

'Swans: The Battle of Britain', 2016, paper, fishing wire, fish hooks.

'Vessels', 2018, clay and Sommemud.

'Revalued gems', 2019, reclaimed fishing rope and resin.

FIN

'Fin' is a series of large, circular paintings featuring images of sharks.

The title plays on the French word, 'Fin', meaning 'to end' and the work is inspired by the decline of global shark populations due to the shark finning industry. Since the 1970s most shark populations have plummeted by over 97%. Many species, such as the porbeagle, smooth hammerhead and dusky shark have decreased in numbers by over 99%.

The main piece features concentric rings and follows the journey from whole animal, to finned shark, to the dried fin product itself and finally, in the centre, a bowl of shark fin soup. The outer ring shows the creatures as we recognise them from nature documentaries, smooth and graceful. The next ring of finned sharks is jarring in contrast and anyone who isn't familiar with shark finning will find these truncated shapes strange and unrecognisable. Finally the rings centre on the bowl of soup, something so small and insignificant in comparison to the animals featured in the outer ring.

This main painting is accompanied by two other paintings also featuring swimming sharks, one of which also includes damaged fishing net, a nod to the overfishing that may ultimately cause the extinction of these much misunderstood animals.

VESSELS Life is fragile. Like a clay vase that can shatter, a living being is vulnerable. 'Vessels' is a sculptural piece exploring the fragility of life and our human relationship with the earth of the battlefield. The vases are made of a clay that contains handfuls of soil collected from Normandy fields. Each vase represents a soldier who lost their life there... Throughout European history, earthenware vessels have been connected with the human body. This is both physically and spiritually; from burial pots to Biblical references. In Christianity people are often referred to as 'vessels'... 'In earthen vessels... we hold a treasure not made of gold' - John Michael Talbot Earth as a substance in itself is bound to religion, 'Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes...' Almost every global spirituality has acknowledged that, as living beings, our bodies will all eventually return to the soil. This isn't just faith, it is science; the carbon cycle. We will become part of the substance that has sustained us. We are inextricably linked. In war, the bodies of the slain often came to rest on unfamiliar soil. In the two World Wars tens of thousands of soldiers fell on foreign land far from home. The British poet Rupert Brooke wrote: 'If I should die, think only this of me; That there's some corner of a foreign field That is for ever England... In that rich earth a richer dust concealed; A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware...' - A Soldier by Rupert Brooke, 1914. READ MORE

Over this time, the earth of the battlefield itself became synonymous with loss of life. Soldiers trudging through sticky clay, soil soaked red, treacherous Passchendaele mud. It was a treacherous enemy and place of rest. The poppy that sprang from that churned earth is now our primary symbol of remembrance.

To create 'Vessels' I combined clay with soil gathered from Normandy fields. Like human beings each vase is different; imperfect.

The accidental cracks, imperfections and broken edges are echoes of experience and reminders of their fragility. Their original form is fleeting and their lifespan is limited. Like us, the vase's existence is transitory.

If the vases are not acquired after exhibition I intend to travel with them back to Normandy where I will crumble them back into the fields.

Like human life, they will have a fleeting existence before returning to the earth.

SWANS '...Proud as a flight of swans the fighters rose.' - Edward Shanks, 'The Few' (III Battle) Swans is an artwork created to commemorate the Battle of Britain. Each piece of paper in this installation equates to one of the aircraft involved in the event; the paper balls represent the 3,434 destroyed in the battle and the planes above signify the 1,079 that survived intact. The paper planes are used here to reflect the fragility of the human existence as well as being a play on the idea of war being game-like. Paper planes are often associated with office work and the idea of someone far removed from the battlefield toying with them (and perhaps scrunching them up and throwing them away) reflects the possible disconnections between those controlling the war and the pilots themselves. There's also a sense of silliness about paper planes, a pointlessness. Noel Coward described the Battle of Britain in his diaries after a commemorative dinner. He mused sadly, “It was all nonsense.” (September 1963). READ MORE

Edward Shanks' poem, 'The Few', inspired the title itself. The purity of the white paper echoes this namesake but these birds do not fly in a flock; the ball formation is intended to feel chaotic, with different angles and directions marking different points in time for each machine.

Aircraft from both sides are included without differentiation; British, German, Polish, Jamaican, and so on. There is a song by Tom Waits called 'The Day After Tomorrow' about a young soldier at war. It includes the lyrics, 'You can't deny, the other side don't want to die any more

Than we do... don't they pray to the same God that we do? And how does God choose, whose prayers does he refuse?'

It was important to me to recognise that human element by ignoring nationality; both sides suffered losses of both aircraft and lives.

The Allies

1,963 aircraft in total. 1, 547 destroyed. 416 remaining

Germany & Italy

2,550 aircraft in total. 1,887 destroyed. 663 remaining

Artwork

4,513 pieces. 1,079 paper planes and 3,434 paper balls

*Actual aircraft numbers differ between sources. The numbers used here are those cited in James Smith's 'Western Front: The Second World War' and are the most commonly occurring figures in other books and websites referring to the event.

REVALUED GEMS

These tiny sculptures are inspired by how we value (or don't value) our marine debris and the legacy we are leaving.

I want to explore our notions of what objects we feel are worth displaying and why. Whether it's because something has intrinsic, historic/sentimental or aesthetic value or for other reasons.

I run beach cleans as a Surfers Against Sewage regional rep and it's fascinating to see volunteers pick along the shoreline, sometimes pocketing little items that were rubbish to whomever threw them away but worth keeping to this other person... things like little toy soldiers or shards of china. No one ever snaffles away the long tangles of rope and so I wanted to try and give that value too.

Despite their unsightliness when on the shore, the colours of lost or discarded rope can be vibrant and beautiful. I wanted to take those colours and make them into something of worth.

In just using hand tools it takes a lot of time and effort to create these 'stones' and that amount of work itself imparts a value into them. The removal from their original context and into frames does too.

Even the idea of a polished 'stone' evokes a preciousness (if they're not 'semi-precious' could they be 'new-precious' or 'revalued-previous'?)

When seeing this rubbish on the beach we feel a sense of sadness and shame but by using it as a resource can we start to look at marine debris in a different way?

Figurative and Portrait Painting

Katie built her artistic career on portrait painting. Her subjects have included notable celebrities, conservation leaders, MPs and members of the military.

Her portraits hang in various private collections in the UK and internationally.

To enquire about a portrait commission please contact Katie here >

Drawing and Equestrian Commissions

One of Katie's specialities is commissioned drawings and she is well-known for her equestrian-themed pencil work. Her artwork is recognised by the polo community and one of her drawings has been awarded each year at the annual international Polo Awards as a prize for Best Playing Pony. Her artworks are owned by the top-rated polo players in the world, including #1-rated players Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres.

Katie is happy to take on drawing commissions for a range of subjects, to find out more please contact her using the form here >

I have a couple of Katie's Blue Planets paintings now. We bought our first one to remind us of our family trips to the West Coast. The colours are beautiful and everyone who visits us comments on how lovely they are, our photos don't do them justice! We're looking forward to buying our third piece when we're next in Skye!

Annabel Johannes, art buyer

NOTABLE EXHIBITIONS

The AFAS 84th & Final Show, 2018, The Menier Gallery, London

Oor Wullie – Island Wullie, The Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow

Blue Planets solo show, 2018, Skyeworks Gallery, Isle of Skye

Katie Tunn - Blue Planets Exhibition, 2018, The Laundry Gallery, Aviemore

The Scottish Show, 2017, The Lighthouse Gallery, Glasgow

AFAS Annual Exhibition, 2014-2017, The Mall

Galleries, London

Out Of Line, 2016, The Mall Galleries, London

Bite Back Charity Event for Shark Conservation, 2015, London Aquarium

KATIE'S WORK CAN CURRENTLY BE FOUND DISPLAYED AT

The Katie Tunn Open Studio, North Skye

Deli Gasta, Broadford, Isle of Skye

OR Shop, Portree, Isle of Skye

Edinbane Lodge, Isle of Skye

The Dunvegan, Isle of Skye

isle20.com - The Online Shop For Artists and Makers during the 2020 COVID pandemic

The Laundry Gallery, Aviemore

Skyeworks Gallery, Portree, Ise of Skye

ART PRESS click to view article

THE STUDIO

The Blue Planet Studio

In early 2020 Katie began renovating an old cow barn that is now her new workspace. The artist's studio comprises of two rooms, one of which works as a showroom where visitors are welcome to visit to view available artworks. Depending on the situation, Katie may also be able to show you her working processes and talk you through what life is like for an artist living on Skye.

The cow barn, or byre, itself is a historic building that once housed both humans and livestock under one roof (a style of house known as a 'but n' ben'). It would have been finished with a thatched roof which was traditionally weighted down with large stones to stop it from being blown away by winter storms. Although the inside has been sealed to stop wildlife from getting in, you can still see one of the original stone walls on the East-side of the gallery.

Please note that, as an open studio, there are no set opening hours; the studio will be open upon Katie's availability. Visitors are also welcome by appointment so if you're planning a visit please get in touch ahead of time to ensure that the studio is not closed!

CONTACT KATIE TO DISCUSS A COMMISSION

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ARTIST

NOTABLE SERIES/PORTFOLIO

NOTABLE EXHIBITIONS

ART PRESS click to view article

THE STUDIO