Katie Hammond

For Katie Hammond, the act of painting is more than just creation—it is a vital source of therapy. Navigating life with chronic illnesses like ME and PoTS has shaped her artistic voice, turning a forced slower pace into a unique creative strength.

By spending hours still and present in her garden or by local ponds, Katie witnesses the “tiny, dancing worlds” found in reflections and light. Her work celebrates this stillness, using melted wax and carved textures to evoke a sense of child-like wonder. She hopes that her layered, colourful paintings bring the same peace to the viewer as they bring to her during the slow, tactile process of their creation.

Encaustic waxing is an ancient technique dating back to the Fayum mummy portraits of Egypt. Katie uses a modern evolution of this method, melting beeswax and damar resin together with raw pigments.

Working with heat—using irons, blowtorches, and heated palettes—she fuses each layer of wax to the one beneath it. This allows her to carve into the surface, embed delicate watercolours, or build up translucent depths that “trap” light within the painting, giving the work a unique 3D quality that traditional oil or acrylic cannot achieve.