Kate Toms

Self-taught mixed media maker Kate Toms creates 3D sculptural pieces from her home workshop on the Devon/Cornwall border. Using paper, felt, wire, wool, cloth and wood, Kate explores the ordinary and the everyday, attempting to capture the humdrum with a gentle humour, she invites the viewer to connect and to create their own narrative around each piece.   

For this latest exhibition ‘Hair of the Dog’, Kate celebrates the nation’s most beloved pet, the dog. Pieces are stylised and focus on the character, rather than being breed specific.  Most of the work is needle felted – a wonderfully simple technique whereby fibre (wool, although other fibres can be used), is shaped by the hand and ‘fixed’ in place using a barbed needle which hooks the fibres together, forming a mass.

The exhibition is supporting the wonderful work of The Cinnamon Trust, a charity that exists to help people and their pets through crises. The only specialist national charity for older people and their much loved, much needed companions.

Owning a pet is both a joy and a privilege that we often take for granted.