Kate Haskell

Kate Haskell is a contemporary painter best known for her vibrant, characterful animal portraits, distinguished by their vivid colour, expressive brushwork, and playful sense of personality. While her practice spans a range of subjects—including occasional landscapes—her work consistently explores the emotional and visual impact of colour, gesture, and form. Working primarily in acrylic, there is a joyful spontaneity at the heart of Kate’s practice. She uses confident, gestural brushstrokes and a bold, often unexpected palette to create paintings that feel alive with energy. She focuses on capturing expression and presence, her compositions are often direct and engaging, allowing the subject to take centre stage. Simplified backgrounds and strong colour contrasts create clarity and immediacy, encouraging an instinctive, emotional connection with the work, resulting in a very distinctive style that sits between representation and interpretation, where familiar subjects are reimagined through colour, texture, and expressive line. At its core, Kate Haskell’s work is about connection—celebrating character, atmosphere, and the emotive power of paint. Whether depicting animals or the natural world, her paintings invite the viewer to engage, respond, and find a sense of delight in the experience of looking.