My Creative Journey: From Ballet Shoes to Botanical Art
Let’s start with your creative journey — when did art first become part of your life, and how did it evolve into a career in design?
Art has really been with me since the very beginning. I know it sounds early, but even at three or four years old, I was surrounded by creativity. My aunt was a professional artist, so I spent time in her studio, absorbing the smell of oils, the textures of canvases, the rhythm of her brushwork. My cousins were also older and incredibly artistic — they were always making something, and I found that world irresistible.
Creativity ran deep in my family. My grandmother was a ballerina and vaudeville performer, and my grandfather was a comedian — they were both part of the theatre world in their day. That spirit of performance and artistic expression was just part of the air I breathed growing up. I started ballet at age four and danced all through my school years — before school, after school, weekends — eventually teaching ballet and even running a small school of my own by the time I was fifteen. Looking back, it was quite entrepreneurial without even realising it!
My love for visual art grew alongside that. At Sunday school, I wasn’t drawn to the religious side of things — I went for the art and craft sessions! We painted, stitched, sculpted, made copper art and string art. It was a hands-on creative playground, and I loved every moment.
Throughout my teens and early adulthood, I kept creating — sewing, painting, pottery, anything tactile. But it wasn’t until later, after years working with my husband in our jewellery business and raising four children, that I came back to painting more seriously. I’d set up little creative activities for my youngest son Asha when he was a toddler, and I realised, “Why am I not painting too?” So I pulled out my brushes and started again — painting florals, still life, native Australian flowers, proteas — the things I’ve always been drawn to.
That rekindling led to mosaics, where I transformed my own paintings into intricate wall panels. Then came printmaking courses at the National Art School, experimenting with lino, woodblock and other techniques. At some point, my daughter — who was studying fashion — suggested a print and textile design course. I was 48 and had never studied formally, but something clicked. I enrolled in a full-time course, and that’s where I first heard of “surface pattern design.”
It was like a lightbulb moment: I realised that the fabrics I’d always adored didn’t just exist — someone actually designed them. From screen printing to hand-drawn pattern repeats, I learned it all, and something inside me lit up. At the time, it wasn’t meant to be a business — it was just a passion project. But when I shared some designs on Instagram in 2012, people began asking if they could license or buy them. I didn’t even know what art licensing was!
That curiosity led me into a whole new world — surface design, art licensing, illustration — and eventually, taking my collections to New York in 2018, and 2019. There’s a whole next chapter in that journey, but it all started with a lifelong love of creativity, reignited in those precious moments painting beside my children. Read more about artist & designer Kirsten Katz
