Firmly grounded in the traditions of the studio, Katie Allen's paintings are immensely seductive to the eye. They remind us of the timeless bond of art and beauty. Each is a masterful exercise in the harmonies of colour, scale and form, and demonstrates a remarkable visual acuity.

Her pictures derive from her immediate experience of nature, although given the complexity of the results, it is a paradox how informal yet truly mysterious this process is. Allen's practice is a prism through which what's 'out there' is refracted into a unique personal vision. Countless natural forms are boiled down to simple motifs, that are, each in their turn, redeployed in a tight and seamlessly orchestrated whole. Significantly, subtle variations of tone and colour are built up graphically, allowing for a plethora of historical and cultural references to jostle for attention across the picture plane: mosaic and stained glass, Persian and Indian miniatures, Arabic calligraphy, Viennese art deco, 70s psychedelia.

It is hard to conceive of these landscapes as real places. They are perhaps the idealised landscapes and vistas of the mind. They are backdrops to fairytales. However, unlike a proper fairytale they appear to contain no moral thus demonstrating a very modern indecision in which we all have a stake, between a landscape engineered in the mind, and one engineered in practical reality.

Katie Lives and works in Swansea , South Wales and is represented by Cube Gallery, Bristol UK.

Born 1967

1986-1989 BA(hons) Fine Art Painting, Bath

1989 Attic Gallery, Swansea (until 1990)

1995 PGCE- Art and Design, Cardiff

Wales Open Art Exhibition. Aberystwyth

1996-1998 Art Teacher Botswana , Africa

1998-2006 Art Teacher Brighton & Swansea

2000 Skylark Gallery, Southbank, London
(until 2002)

2001 London Affordable Art Fair (AAF)

2002 Attic Gallery, Swansea (until 2004)

2003 Swansea Open Art Exhibition

2004 Swansea Open Art Exhibition

2006 Left teaching in order to pursue art career

2007 Cube Gallery Bristol (until present)

Wins Peoples Choice Prize, National Eisteddfod of Wales

The Brownstone Gallery, Modbury, Devon

London AFF, Edinburgh Art Fair, 20/21 London

2008 Form London, Chelsea Art Fair, Bristol AAF, London AAF,

Edinburgh Art Fair

2009 Brussels AAF, London AFF, Bristol AAF, 20-21 London,

Cambridge Art Fair, Chelsea Art Fair

2010 Group Show Mostyn - We have the Mirrors we have the Plans,

Solo Show - 4 Seasons - Cube Gallery,

St David's Hall Christmas Exhibition,

New York AAF, Edinburgh Art Fair, 20/21 London

2011 20/21 London, Chelsea Art Fair, Chicago Art Fair USA,

Welsh Artist of the Year Exhibition, Art Hamptons USA, Exhibition of Giclee Prints in National Botanical Gardens of Wales, New York AAF, Toronto Art Fair ,Edinburgh Art Fair,

Series of Limited Edition Giclee Prints produced - online shop
Arts Council of Wales - Small Projects Grant Awarded