Creating rule-breaking art with Katy Dee
Katy Dee’s art is a wild celebration of flora and fauna, the way the light hits the shoreline, days gone by on pebble-stone beaches and Fleetwood Mac lyrics. Katy, an artist and print designer, has always lived life on the edge – by the ocean that is. From the UK’s Seaford to Australia’s Sawtell, she can’t imagine spending her days any other way than beside the seaside. Her creative career to date has been anything but linear – and that’s exactly how she likes it.
Here’s how her travels, from London to this great southern land, unfolded…
1982-2000 – seaford, sussex, united kingdom
Katy struggles to remember a time in her life without art and crafts – something she attributes to both her mum and dad.
“Mum is a really creative woman and was a very early influence on me. There was always a project going on – lots of papier-mache and painting, making little books and stapling them together. Then she came home one day with those chocolate decorating kits. We filled them with plaster and painted them. Then there were the flowers – mum’s garden was like her third child, still is today. Sadly I haven’t inherited the green thumb, but growing up, our garden was wild with all sorts of colours. I think that’s where my love for bold, bright flowers came from. I was so lucky to have a simple childhood, one bursting with colour and craft, pebble-stone beaches and fish and chips, bike rides and garden games.”
2000-2005 – London college of fasion, london – then siad, Farnham, surry
After highschool and a gap year, Katy flew her seaside coop for London’s College of Fashion. It was equal parts exciting and terrifying.
“I’d just sat my A-levels, where I got a D in art because I couldn’t paint a still life (don’t ask me to draw a horse, you’ll get something similar to that of a two-year-old), and was accepted into this hugely prestigious school to study fashion. I was 19 years old and far from home. It was exciting, but also kind of terrifying. I learnt early on that it wasn’t for me. Most other students there weren’t my people and I found London pretty overwhelming and scary to be honest. But it was an amazing experience, I still learnt from it and don’t regret a thing.
“So I shifted from fashion in London to 3D design and glass-blowing in Surrey, as you do. Why no one stopped me from doing that I’ll never know. My mum and dad were just awesome, they supported anything I wanted to do and encouraged me to give it a crack. But halfway through I realised that wasn’t for me either. Still, I saw it through till the end and learnt some amazing skills. To this day I have huge respect for glass artists, because I know the work that goes into it is just insane. I was too impatient, I need to see results immediately. Glassblowing is hours of work and then it can break at the last minute – I found that too mentally exhausting.”
2007-2009 – eastern suburbs, sydney
Up for a new adventure, Katy set sail for Australia, a backpack and her best friend in tow.
“It began as the typical down under backpacking trip. There were temp jobs by day, creative classes, workshops and wine by night. I wasn’t trying to make money from my creativity, I was just exploring and having fun with whatever took my fancy – and my backpack budget could afford. I made lifelong friends and fell in love with this beautiful country. Towards the end of my time in Sydney I met James, my now husband, who encouraged me to stop procrastinating and start selling my work at both markets and then in time, online.
2009-2011 – london… again
London was calling – Katy and James went back to the motherland for family time, more creative experiences and, ultimately, tying the knot.
“During this time I was working for a fashion company that made handbags. I was inspired to start sewing and make jewellery. As you can imagine, even my early designs were bold, bright, bursting with colour and I hit the markets under the name ‘Shiztastic’ to test the waters. It was scary, without a doubt, but I loved every minute and the feedback I got really added fuel to fire. I realised that, despite experimenting with so many different mediums, from jewellery to ceramics, textiles to woodwork, textile design always came back to the surface for me. I just loved the process of decorating things, turning them into something unique, colourful and taking the time to put my own Shiztastic stamp on it.”
2011-2015 – sydney… again
With another year of London life under her belt, Katy made the call to head back to Australia to further develop her digital design skills.
“I studied digital textile design at Enmore TAFE at night, while working in various administrative jobs by day – which I hated. But the evening classes were magic and really opened my eyes to a whole world I never knew existed. I undertook beginner and advanced courses in both Photoshop and Illustrator, which taught me all the basics I needed to go out on my own. At this stage I was well and truly stepping into the Shiztastic brand – a word that, to me, encompasses the fabulousness of colourful mess I embrace in my art.”
2015-2016 – kuala lumpur, malaysia
Not one to ever turn down an adventure, the Dees set sail for Malaysia for James’ work.
“It was a fascinating year full of delicious exploration and a creative awakening. The city of Kuala Lumpur is full of treasure for any artist and I spent my days learning to screen print as well as volunteering, teaching English and playing badminton! It was such a unique opportunity and a really fun year.’’
2016-2019 – sydney… again
Back in Sydney, Katy dived into a career with Digital Fabrics in Marrickville. It was here she learnt all the ins and outs of digital printing and started painting to create her own unique fabric designs.
“Once I learnt how to create fabric designs digitally – I started making my own. I’d paint these huge sheets, scan them into the computer and take the time to experiment with colour and form from there. All of my fabric designs start as original paintings. But it’s only recently I’ve realised not all my work needs to end up on fabric, some of them are standalone works in their own right, so that was a real turning point for Shiztastic as a brand.”
2019-2022 – sawtell / toormina
In search of a quiet, seaside life, Katy and James moved to Sawtell in November 2019, right before the pandemic hit.
“I’ve painted so much since moving here and started my dream role as store manager for Kaleidoscope at the end of 2021. I sell my artwork and products there, and have also been featured in a few local exhibitions and galleries. It’s really only been the past few years that I’ve started exploring my own painting style. Thanks to this regional, creative community we live in, I felt supported and realised I’m not all that bad. I don’t have to follow any rules and I can take the time to explore the artist I really want to be.
“I’m a grotbag at heart. I pour a glass of wine, pop my ugg boots on, throw on some Fleetwood Mac and embrace the mess of it all. I love that I can express myself with colour and will often have seven to eight canvases on the go at once. I used to really think about what the end product needed to look like, but I’m trying not to worry about that so much these days. Instead, I’m letting the universe lead me wherever I’m meant to be and right now I just feel so lucky to live here – inspiration is right here on our doorstep. Go for a walk sometime, you can’t miss it.”
Katy’s on a mission to share her work with galleries across the country, starting with her beloved home on the mid-north coast. A mural is also high on her bucket list – but in the meantime, you can find her joy-filled creations at Kaleidoscope, Coffs Harbour. So if you need some colour in your life, track her down asap via her website and Instagram
