The Maker & The Vision

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I live by William Morris’s famous golden rule and I am heavily influenced by the aesthetics and ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement.

"Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful" - William Morris

I am a printmaker and designer who believes that the kitchen is the heart of the home.

Fish Soup illustrated recipe double oven glove, comes with cooking instructions. lino cut print by Kate Guy

For the home cook and the design conscious

From my Studio in Camden, London, I create functional art for the home cook and the design conscious - for those who find as much joy in the ritual of a slow-simmered stew as they do in the beauty of a hand-carved line.

Whether it’s an organic cotton tea towel or a heavy-duty apron, every piece is designed to be used, loved, and passed down.

KITCHEN TEXTILES

My design process is intentionally slow

The process begins with a drawing from life at Art School in the 1980s we did three hours of life drawing a week which taught me the importance of observation - we learned to look and record what you see, not what you think you see.

Drawing from life develops a true representation of the subject; be it a piece of garlic or my cat looking out of the window - with all its quirks and rough edges.

I transfer my drawn image onto lino using tracing paper and then I carve it out by hand. I use traditional linoleum with hessian backing rather than the new ‘easycut’ plastic imitation lino.

I prefer the feeling of the original lino - it is also biodegradable and so fits better with my environmental ethos.

I print everything myself by hand, smaller prints are printed using my cast iron Victorian book press (which I found in a fleamarket in France), larger prints I print on my Gunning Etching Press.

Some prints such as ‘Patterns in Nature’ consist of four separate lino blocks, each block is printed in a different colour and so it can take up to two weeks to print as I must wait for each layer to dry before printing the next.

Some stay as prints while some also are scanned into my computer to be combined and tweaked in Photoshop into recipes and designs for print onto organic cotton homewares; tea towels, aprons, oven gloves and tote bags. 

My fabric products are (and have always been) printed and sewn by a family run business in Lincolnshire ensuring the high quality synonymous with my brand.

What Makes Kate Guy Prints are Unique?

  • Intentionally Slow

    Using traditional techniques and materials, Kate's bold, colourful and striking prints combine 21st Century Design with a comforting and nostalgic ethos.

    PRINT TECHNIQUES 

  • Art You Can Cook From

    My signature illustrated recipes turn kitchen essentials into perfect gifts for the food-obsessed (or yourself)

    KITCHEN ESSENTIALS 

  • Sustainably Crafted

    Every textile is printed in the UK on premium organic cotton, respecting both the craft and the environment.

    PRINTS 

My Story

I come from an artistic background; my father, Tony Guy was a graphic designer and my mother is a fine artist.

I studied Graphic Design at Norwich School of Art where I specialised in Audio Visual Studies. In those pre-digital days all photography was analogue and we used a traditional rostrum film camera to create animations.

After leaving Art School I worked for 2 years at Richard Williams Animation studios in London and Budapest on 'The Thief and the Cobbler'. When the film sadly folded I decided to go freelance. I spent the next 10 years working as artist, designer and illustrator whilst bringing up my two daughters.

In 2002 I completed a PGCE in Art and Design at Middlesex University. I then worked for 12 years as Head of Department at a large secondary school in North West London until I left school again in 2014 to return to my first loves of printmaking and design.


I now primarily work with linocut techniques to design textiles at my studio in Camden, where I also teach printmaking to small groups of adults and children.

Every design begins with hand-carving, ensuring that the final image carries the tactile, 'true' texture that only traditional printmaking can provide.

WORKSHOPS