Katy Smail, 'A Dream of Sorts' 2023

Katy Smail was born and raised under the purple skies and scruffy trees of rural Scotland. She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art with a First-Class Honors degree, then moved to Brooklyn, NY where she worked for ten years as an illustrator, painter and art director. Her expressive florals and dreamy portraits have been used across homewares, stationary, publishing and fashion.
Whilst living amongst the frantic energy of New York, painting flowers became a way to soothe her nervous system and seek connection to nature. Now, she is back in Scotland with her husband and young son, happy to be surrounded by wild meadows again. She uses painting as a meditation on the magic of the natural world, the feminine energy of mother nature and the ways in which we can find comfort, joy and escape there.