{"id":31391,"date":"2019-11-07T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=31391"},"modified":"2020-10-07T13:21:56","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T03:21:56","slug":"illustrating-a-journey-to-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/living\/illustrating-a-journey-to-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Illustrating a journey to success"},"content":{"rendered":"

The chaotic nature of life hits pause when Katharine Rattray is at her desk drawing whimsical characters. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Katharine, who operates her own art and design business Kat and Fox, oozes with as much personality and joy as the products of her creative intuitions. <\/p>\n

But her journey to entrepreneurship wasn\u2019t an easy ride. A relationship breakdown coupled with a bipolar diagnosis sent the Torquay-based illustrator, best known as Kat, into a sink hole of uncertainty. <\/p>\n

\u201cI made some really hairy mistakes during my journey. I didn\u2019t understand business; I threw myself into one thing and drained a lot of money which you just don\u2019t do,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to totally rebuild my business. I lost my family home, my husband and I was diagnosed as bipolar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the risk you take when you follow a dream. It\u2019s a clich\u00e9 but I can honestly say I\u2019m so happy it did happen and how I\u2019ve pivoted into a service. I never thought I\u2019d make money out of what I do.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"
Kat won the Life Instyle award (interior and furnishings) in 2017.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All of those challenges occurred in 2017. Two years later, Kat has successfully collaborated with Australian children\u2019s writers. <\/p>\n

Her most recent undertaking, Alfie\u2019s Present<\/a> \u2013 a 36-page personalised Christmas book \u2013 saw Kat work in partnership with author Lara Solomon. It also led to a mentoring opportunity with the storybook business that spearheaded the project (Story Antics<\/a>) where she led a group of design interns. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it (mentoring) was my favourite part. They (the students) were pushed,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started out, I was doing these really odd figures that looked like they didn\u2019t move. I was living in Wodonga and didn\u2019t have a lot of access or time. I saw Sue DeGennaro\u2019s work when I was doing readings at my daughter\u2019s school.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe became a mentor for me and helped me to develop my characters, teaching me how to make them move. My aim since then has been to make them (her characters) bend and stretch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotten to the point where I see myself as a visual comedian. I love making people laugh. I\u2019m pushing my illustrations further now into the ridiculous.\u201d <\/p>\n

The UK-born mother of three said she rediscovered her love for drawing when her father became terminally ill. She returned to her hometown in London to be by her parents\u2019 side and comforted them by drawing the imagery that could be seen from his hospital window. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy father loved me drawing when I was younger. We\u2019d go on country walks and he\u2019d bring a pad and paper and make me draw. He was incredibly encouraging; both my parents were. <\/p>\n

\u201c(He was) a man who could barely talk and I couldn\u2019t believe he pointed to the window and said to draw. Without a lie, I have not stopped drawing since then.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kat intends to build on her drawing techniques and create fun, educational children\u2019s books. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think illustrations can play a massive part in the learning journey; it\u2019s the conduit from the word to the child.\u201d
\nFor more information about Kat, head to katandfox.com.au<\/a> or facebook.com\/Katandfox<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The chaotic nature of life hits pause when Katharine Rattray is at her desk drawing whimsical characters. Katharine, who operates her own art and design business Kat and Fox, oozes with as much personality and joy as the products of her creative intuitions. But her journey to entrepreneurship wasn\u2019t an easy ride. A relationship breakdown […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":31395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-31391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIllustrating a journey to success - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/living\/illustrating-a-journey-to-success\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Illustrating a journey to success - Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The chaotic nature of life hits pause when Katharine Rattray is at her desk drawing whimsical characters. 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