She is one of the leading wildlife artists currently working in the UK and boasts a highly impressive 57,000 odd followers on social media - not to mention a huge fan base with Robertson Fine Arts clientele. Collectors have flocked from across the globe to secure her extraordinary bright and bold depictions of stags, lions and elephants - plus she has a number of sell out exhibitions and highly successful collection releases under her belt and even more recently, a best selling book detailing her artistic career and top London chef Adam Handling commissioning works for his latest restaurant... our Artist In Focus this week can only be the incredibly accomplished Katy Jade Dobson.
In a gallery full of work of every variety, it is not unusual for Katy’s art to stand out from the crowd – their rich, vibrant colours pack a punch and opulent textures make them difficult to overlook. Originally from Yorkshire, Katy mainly works in oil paints. She has discovered an appreciation in their velvety texture and intense colour which she marries perfectly with her energetic style. Her main theme of choice is wildlife, painting everything from the most delicate butterfly – to the noble stag, although she does like to spill over into the figurative subject and much more recently, into floral and plant based pieces. She shot to fame initially with the release of her popular 'Prism Stag' in 2014 - which is still to this day one of her most requested works by lovers of her style. Since then she has released some pretty incredible stand alone works which have sold out instantly, and some very memorable series' of work that have only increased her popularity.
When we threw open the doors to our Edinburgh gallery at the end of 2015, we knew that the artist we desperately wanted to work with on their first exhibition in Scotland - was Katy. And we were in luck, as in March of 2016 she was ready to release her brand new collection '21 Grams' - featuring 21 breathtaking large scale originals of doves, families of bears and and a selection of limited edition works to accompany them. It was the first time a collection of this scale had ever been displayed altogether in one place - and of course we were thrilled to be playing host to it all. The reaction was astounding and most of the originals sold on the day of the event! It was the beginning of a blossoming relationship between Katy, our gallery and her growing admirers in Scotland.
So in 2017 when we had the opportunity to have Katy back in the gallery once more for a personal appearance, and this time with news that her new collection was to be inspired by all of our Highland creatures - we jumped at the chance. On Saturday the 18th of August we unveiled the collection 'Highland Territory' in our Edinburgh gallery which consisted of beautiful and vibrant depictions of highland cows, eagles, owls and a particularly special, incredibly enchanting woodland scene complete with colourful trees and noble stags. This was produced as a limited edition print of just 25, exclusively for Robertson Fine Art - and along with this was the opportunity to take home an exceptional little Highland Cow limited edition sketch which was given to the first 20 buyers of Katy's works. The event and the collection was a huge success - selling a staggering total of 13 originals and even more limited editions and everyone who attended had a fabulous day seeing the new works and chatting to Katy.
This year - we hosted what was arguably one of Katy Jade Dobson's most pivotal exhibitions in her career. On the 30th of March she unveiled one of her largest and most diverse collections to date, the 'Entanglement' series. There were eighteen new larger scale original oil paintings, sixteen sample sized oil paintings and ten sketches - and a range of quality limited edition prints, all featuring a brand new style she had been developing for almost a year. She said about the collection:
"This collection is all about the colours, they completely led the way! I often lead with the subject, build into the detail and outwards from there. This time I decided to approach painting from a completely new angle and see what happened. Starting with the colours as the focus that would progress on to lead me to where the subjects needed to be, its made my usual abstract colours really be showcased. The subjects then took on a life of their own and the finished result became so different to how I imagined but so much better. "
Compositionally the pieces were worlds away from my previous work, with a number of animals emerging from the background in an almost a dream- like way - but of course, Katy's signature technique and my use of colours has remained the same. This collection was not only hugely successful for Katy Jade Dobson but confirmation that she is able to push her style to new limits, surprise people create something fresh and intriguing! She states:
"I have such a need for challenges and experimenting with my art and although it is hard to move away from certain styles, it is really nourishing to my creativity and also makes me appreciate when I revisit older styles."
We are longing to see what 2020 has in store for this exceptional artist and we hope we can continue to come along for the journey - so watch this space!
We currently have a stunning display of original and limited edition works from Katy Jade Dobson on display at our Edinburgh and our Glenrothes locations, and you can view the entire collection we currently have from our Artist Of The Week right here.
