Hello, I'm Kate Highmore, the artist behind Kate Highmore Illustration. I am best known for my elegant illustrated maps, house portraits, and architectural illustrations. Read on for a little look behind my brand, and to find out how I got started...
Growing up, reading and drawing kept me occupied for hours on end. I opted to studied English Literature at The University of Sheffield, but I continued making art whenever I could, illustrating the articles I wrote for the University student newspaper.
I carved out a career in Marketing after graduating and I was lucky enough to incorporate illustration and design into one of my Marketing roles at The University of Sheffield. In 2016 I produced these campaign visuals to promote their Staff Survey that year, and I found that I really loved drawing buildings and architecture.
This sowed the seeds of my illustration business.
In 2018 my husband and I moved from Sheffield to a suburb of Manchester, and it was whilst I was exploring my new town that I felt inspired to create some local area artwork.
I love a line drawn and 'industrial' style when I'm sketching buildings, but I also see so much softness and beauty in architecture, in the tones of the brick and the pastel hues of lovely front doors. When I walked around my new town, I started to feel there was so much charm here that I hadn't yet seen reflected in any of the existing artistic interpretations of the area.
It was as a result of those musings that the Sale map emerged from my paintbrush and watercolour paper pad in the autumn of 2019.
I got a few prints of the Sale map made and I put them on Etsy but I had no idea what to expect. Within a few days, I'd sold 10, and a gift shop in nearby village Ashton on Mersey asked if they could stock it. They have been re-stocking this A4 map print ever since, along with two other popular maps of Ashton on Mersey and Manchester.
My map designs led to commission requests for bespoke maps for private clients, house portraits, and to me being featured in a national glossy magazine. I'm now five years into this journey at the time of writing, and I feel so excited for what's next.
My work now spans a few key areas:
Creating products for the gift shop market
As well as working closely with No.9 The Loft in Ashton on Mersey, I collaborate with wonderful and long-established gift shop Handpicked by Henrietta in Poynton village, where you'll find a growing range of products featuring my Poynton map design.
I am continually developing my range of local area art, responding to market interest in specific locations, and much of my day to day work is based around creating new products for the gift shops I work with.
Do get in touch for more information if you would like to work together on area-specific products for your gift shop - drop me a line to hello@katehighmore.com.
Private commissions, such as house and building portraits and bespoke illustrated maps
Since I launched in 2019, I've painted hundreds of beautiful homes and businesses for lovely clients and I'm very proud to have been featured in Period Living Magazine's Talent Spot section. This was the ultimate honour from a national magazine that celebrates all things tasteful and elegant.
Illustration commissions
I've created work for large media organisations, SMEs and everything in between. I'm available for illustrative commissions and my repertoire is large - I can turn my hand to animals, character studies, musical instruments, buildings - you name it, I can do it!
Growing my portfolio and product range
Around my client work, I've been developing my portfolio and using this as the basis for a range of beautiful art prints and stationery. I'm excited by my growing range of prints, cards and gifts, which are all inspired by the things I love - flowers, fashion, and architectural design.
