Katharine Lightfoot, born in 1972, is the younger sister of James Lightfoot.  She graduated from the University of Plymouth in 1995 with a degree in Fine Art.  Until recently, she has lived and worked as an artist in the West Country.

In 1998, she moved to Dartmoor where she gained her inspiration for painting sheep.  She developed an admiration for their stubborn ability to survive the elements with apparent ease, up on the hostile open moorland of which they are so much a part.  Depicting the individuality of the sheep, with their inquisitive nature, Kat captures the tension generated by their mad, uneasy stare just before they turn and run.
 
Ironically, in 2001, due to the devastating effects of the foot and mouth outbreak, the subject matter on her doorstep was closed to the public.  Subsequently and understandably, the painting of sheep was temporarily curtailed. 

During that period, Kat started to produce her series of seascapes of the North Cornwall coast.  Forced to change both direction and style, she starts to use minimal colours to evoke overcast, misty winter scenes; the swift changing moods of the sea are now at the heart of her work.

Kat  moved to Orkney briefly in 2002, where she continued to paint moody, dramatic seascapes and large skies.  She depicted the seasons, revealing the obvious contrast in the light, colour and mood of the islands, which have inspired her to paint large canvasses portraying a sense of space and timelessness.

Kat has returned to her beloved Dartmoor, where she is struggling to keep up with an overwhelming demand for her paintings of horses and hounds. 

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