How on earth does a young woman from Edinburgh find her way to Iwate Prefecture, in the depths of Tohoku to become a successful sculptor? A sculptor of gigantic stone public art you see in front of buildings all over the world. You are about to hear the Legend of Kate Thomson. If you are an artist at heart, that did something else like I did, you will love this episode and I hope it inspires you to bring yourself back to your art.

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In this episode you’ll hear:

How Kate almost didn’t become an artist, thinking she could only be a restorer
Developing her skills in community and public art in the Gorbals of Glasgow
How Kate avoided meeting the man who would “turn her life upside down”
What it was like to live in rural Iwate, and wake up with snow on your futon
The similarities between Celtic and Ainu patterns that influenced her sculptures
How Kate created a travelling installation to help with the healing process in post earthquake ravaged Tohoku

About Kate

Kate was born in St. Alban's England and grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, surrounded by artists, musicians, and actors. Her father was a television director and producer, and her mother an interior designer. She loved playing with clay since she was a child and spent every holiday with their parents, siblings, and cousins in the countryside of the Scottish borders or surrounded by the sea on her visits to her grandparents on the island of Guernsey.

She went on to study fine arts at university, and then onto become an artist in earnest while a student. She also experimented with life performance, stage lighting and costume design, and formed a dance company with her friends to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival, Fringe and other festivals. After graduating, she worked as a community artist in Glasgow for three years, introducing locals to the joy of art.

She was then a founding director at the Glasgow Sculpture Studios. Wanting to learn how to carve, she won a place as an assistant for the Scottish sculpture workshops, International Stone Carving Symposium in 1988. There she met Hironori Katagiri. Kate has completed many

large-scale site-specific public sculptures in Scotland, Europe, Lebanon, America in Japan.

Connect with Kate

Ukishima Sculpture Studio website https://ukishima.net/en/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ukishimasculpturestudio/

Ukishima Sculpture Studio YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfnIviDE_rk108Twnt3ww4A

Links

Kate Thomson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsma8W2aBr0

Hironori Katagiri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OVgMc-6IiE

Photohoku : https://www.facebook.com/photohoku

Connect with Sarah

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sarah-furuya-coaching/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahfuruyacoaching/