Meet Artist Kate Kelly a Contemporary Coastal Painter based in Pembrokeshire
Capturing the Atmosphere of the Welsh Coast
Who is Kate Kelly ?
Kate Kelly is a contemporary coastal artist based near St Davids, in Pembrokeshire, specializing in vibrant landscapes created in oils and acrylics. Her work is defined by a bold use of colour and rich textures, capturing the fleeting moments of light and the dramatic skies that define the West Wales shoreline.
Living on a rural smallholding near the beaches of South-West Wales, Kate draws her primary inspiration from walking the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path. Her paintings are more than mere observations; they are atmospheric explorations of “hiraeth” and the raw beauty of the Atlantic landscape.
A Journey from Textiles to Fine Art
Kate’s artistic foundation began under the mentorship of writer and painter Robert Westall. She later secured a competitive place at Liverpool Polytechnic, graduating with a BA (Hons) in Textile & Fashion.
In 1990, Kate established herself as a freelance printed textile designer, creating patterns for major UK brands like Dorma and WH Smith, as well as international leisurewear producers in the US. This background in design continues to influence her fine art today through her sophisticated eye for composition and colour harmony. It was while living in Lancaster and exploring the rugged terrains of Northern England that Kate returned to her roots in oil painting, eventually settling in the heart of the Welsh coastal art scene.
Exhibitions and Recognition
Kate is an active figure in the Welsh contemporary art community. Her work is collected internationally, with a growing audience in the UK, Germany, France, Canada, and the US. Recent career highlights include:
- King Street Gallery (Carmarthen): Member and resident exhibitor 2023 – 2025.
- Prestigious Shows: Selected for the Cardiff M.A.D.E. Winter Open and the Plas Glyn-y-Weddw Summer Show (2024).
- London Exhibits: Showcased as a featured Welsh contemporary artist in Bloomsbury, London.
- St Davids Presence: Success of the Vestry Summer Gallery in St Davids (2025).
Community & Education: “Paint Your Pembrokeshire”
Beyond the studio, Kate is passionate about the link between creativity and well-being. With four years of experience using art to support emotional health in primary education, she now hosts bespoke outdoor painting sessions and art workshops.
In 2025, she launched the “Paint Your Pembrokeshire” painting kits, designed to help others capture the spirit of the coast at home. These kits have become a sought-after resource for aspiring artists and visitors to the region.
Professional Affiliations
- Visual Arts Co-ordinator: On Land’s Edge Arts Festival (Fishguard), 2024–2025.
- Member: Fishguard Arts Society (Steering Group), SAA (Professional Member), and the Welsh Women’s Artist Association.
- North Pembrokeshire Open Studios: Participant (2024, 2025).
Artist’s Statement
“I think of colour as threads in the coastal landscape, dipping in and out, interlocked and inter-woven. Sometimes the bold colours are replaced with ribbon gauzes and organdy passages that can end in frayed textural edges. All employed to conjure that moment in time and place, how it feels to be there.” Kate Kelly
Kate Kelly is a contemporary Welsh artist and coastal painter whose work explores the emotional and atmospheric character of the Pembrokeshire landscape.
Working in oils and mixed media, she creates expressive paintings shaped by movement, light, weather, and memory — drawing on the dramatic meeting of land, sea, and sky along the western edge of Wales. Her paintings are not direct recordings of place, but responses to the sensory and psychological experience of being within the landscape.
A background in textile design continues to inform her approach to painting. Colour is layered, woven, fractured and reassembled across the surface, creating rhythmic passages that echo tidal movement, shifting weather systems, and the erosion patterns of the coast itself. Through richly worked textures and luminous colour relationships, the paintings seek to hold fleeting atmospheric conditions — sea mist, incoming weather, the last light across water, or the vast spatial stillness found along the coastal path.
Kelly’s work sits within the lineage of expressive British landscape painting associated with artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Knapp-Fisher, Kyffin Williams and David Tress, while bringing a more lyrical, colour-driven and textural sensibility to the contemporary Welsh landscape tradition.
Living and working near St Davids, Kelly returns repeatedly to the Pembrokeshire coastline as both subject and source — a place where weather, geology and memory become inseparable.
What People Say
about artist Kate Kelly | Contemporary Coastal Painter Pembrokeshire
Absolutely thrilled with the watercolour I ordered – titled “Incoming Marloes”. It is a gift for my sister’s birthday and I know she will love it. Thank you Kate I will definitely be looking to buy more beautiful art from you.
Karen (Surrey)
5 stars all around! This painting greets me every day in my bedroom. It’s stunning! It was carefully packed and shipped quickly. I would definitely buy from Kate again!
Jennifer (U.S.A)
Couldn’t wait for ‘Summer’s Delight’ to arrive. We love this area of Pembrokeshire, and thought that your style and choice of colours, captures its beauty perfectly. Still trying to find the perfect place to hang it in the new house! Prompt communication and careful packaging, with a lovely note as well.
H. Parnell (London)