Katja Katholing-Bloss
It really all began in 2008 with a spontaneous trip to the ‘Botanica’ exhibition at Sydney’s Botanical Gardens, where I came across unbelievably realistic and detailed sketches and paintings of plants by botanical illustrators and artists. As a child I always really enjoyed painting and loved experimenting with colours. This love, which had laid dormant and neglected for so long, was sparked back into life by all of those photograph-like realistic paintings I viewed at the exhibition that day. It was clear to me that I wanted to pick up my pencils and brushes and try again. When I took part in a workshop concentrating on drawing and painting insects and was immediately hooked. Several years later what started as a calling became an occupation. Born and raised in a place called Hof an der Saale, in the northern-most part of Bavaria, I grew up always surrounded by flowers. My mother’s florist shop was an early formative inspiration that remains strong to this day. I spend my early career working in industry, initially in Germany and then over a decade in England and Australia. I returned to Germany in 2015, first to Bayreuth and since 2019 I’ve been living in my home town, Hof. I received my initial training as a botanical artist in England where I studied under the late Stuart Lafford and, after completing additional advanced study, was appointed as a botanical art teacher at the Hereford College of Technology. I am currently a board member of the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA, England), the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) as well as the Hof/Saale Art Association. On numerous occasions I have exhibited my work in England and Germany and hold the distinction of being the only German artist to have exhibited at the SBA’s Annual Exhibition ‘Plantae’ at the Mall galleries in London in May 2019. My works are held by private collectors in many countries including England, Australia, Italy and Dubai. As a freelance artist and tutor of botanical art I offer various workshops and individual tutoring in my studio in Hof and in Bayreuth and also offer workshops in Dornbirn in Austria. I consider it my overarching mission to raise the level of awareness of this unique art form amongst the German public, and to encourage observers of this wonderful world of plants to develop a keen appreciation of all its glorious detail. That’s my passion and goal and one which I sincerely hope inspires you too!
