Tell us a bit about yourself, and what inspires you? I’m an abstract artist. I paint intuitively, mostly colorful florals and inspired by the bush. I also get inspired by things that I see around me on my morning walks, or even just colours that I see flipping through a magazine or objects, shapes, anything. I get inspired by all my paint colours and all the possibilities, even just from mixing them together. 

What does creativity mean to you? To me creativity means having the freedom to just follow my intuition with no restrictions and to get into a space where I can just get into the flow and not think too hard about the work.

What do you love most about being an artist? The freedom to be my own boss. Also, being able to create something that didn't exist before, and that has come purely from my imagination. Then the follow on from that is seeing people connect with the work and enjoy it as well.

What gets you in the creative mood? Mostly being in my studio and surrounded by all my paint colours. I've got fabulous new shelves and I can lay out all my paints here so it's very exciting, it's like being a kid in a candy shop. So I get excited thinking about what colours I can create mixing all these together.

Controversial art opinion? I really don't think it's absolutely necessary to have a degree in fine art or along those lines or be represented by a gallery in order to be successful in your career. And I don't think that having those two things should necessarily mean that your work is more valuable.

Art idiosyncrasy? I am a super organised person and in order to be in the right frame of mind to paint I really find it necessary to have things tidy around me. I can't seem to work in a mess. So it helps calm a busy mind if everything is in its place and tidy. It sort of frees up my head.

Worst job you’ve ever had? When I was younger, probably early twenties, I lived in London for a time and I went all around the city selling fake perfume. Yes, really dodgy!!!

Art muses? Matisse, of course, because, colour and collage. I really love his collage cutouts. Genevieve Carroll, amazing because she is a brilliant colourist and I love her quirkiness in her subject. Composition's amazing too. CY Twombly, because I do love a good scribble.

What scares you most about being an artist? Well it would have to be just the daily struggle that I have, which I'm sure every other artist has, where it's such a challenge to complete the process of a painting because we go through so many ups and downs, and when you get to a sticky part, it does take a lot of courage and I do to push on to the next part in order to resolve it. So I do quite frequently find myself procrastinating just a little bit until I can manage to put my big girl pants on and, you know, push through and go again.

Favourite time of the day? Definitely early morning when you're up before anyone else is, and it's lovely and quiet and can go for an early morning walk. But I also do love late afternoon in my studio because you get this beautiful afternoon light streaming through.

Insta: @kowenart
Website: https://www.kateowenartwork.com.au/