Start of Career, 1899-1910
Watercolour ‘Red Hut, Walberswick’, Suffolk c 1900
Suffolk and Lincolnshire, aged 20-31 years
Kathleen’s extended family came from Suffolk and Lincolnshire, and she spent her youth surrounded by the locations and sights she painted. Her early watercolour paintings, 1899-1910, show the open spaces, big skies, varied waterways, and iconic buildings that have drawn artists to these landscapes for centuries [1].
Kathleen’s mother and future husband were members of the extensive Bird families residing in Ipswich, Suffolk, as well as in the surrounding villages within a five-mile radius, including Little Blakenham and Felixstowe. Many paintings were personal to Kathleen, such as Broom Vale, Little Blakenham, where Kathleen and her parents lived for a period between 1902-1911.
Watercolour ‘Broom Vale, Little Blakenham’, 1907
Bramford Mill was situated on a parallel road across the railway line, close to where Kathleen’s friend and fellow artist Ellen Sylvia Packard lived. Kathleen also painted a view of Sproughton Meadows, where one of Sylvia’s sisters lived.
Watercolour ‘Bramford Mill, near Ipswich’, c 1908
Kathleen also travelled to paint popular tourist sites in Suffolk, such as Southwold in Walberswick.
Watercolour ‘Old Trees Walberswick, Suffolk’, 1905
Kathleen’s extended Temple family were mostly farmers in Lincolnshire, near Boston, Surfleet, and Holbeach.
Watercolour ‘The Triangular Bridge Crowland, Lincolnshire’ (also known as Trinity Bridge), c 1912
Watercolour either ‘The Glen River, Surfleet’ or ‘The Welland River’ both in Lincolnshire, c 1910
Throughout her life Kathleen continually returned to visit and paint within these landscapes, and records exist for around 25 titles painted from these two counties.
Reference
“Constable and Gainsborough: Suffolk’s Landscape Masters”, the Visit Suffolk website:
