Cathy
Brett, the Leatherhead-based arts designer who created last year's exhibition
theme at Hampton Cottage, will be guest speaker at this year's annual general
meeting of the Friends of Leatherhead Museum on Monday, 30 April in the
Letherhead Institute. The event starts at 7.30pm for 8pm. Wine and juices will be served.
Author
of five teen novels and illustrator of around 40 more by other writers, Cathy
grew-up in Leatherhead, her youth shaped by Therfield School, juice bar discos
and roller-skating at the leisure centre. She also sold ice-cream at the former
Thorndike Theatre - now Leatherhead Theatre, of course - and enjoyed night time
walks to and from the William IV pub. After a 30-year absence pursuing careers
in art, design, publishing and academia, she’s moved back to the town, building
her own studio in her parents’ garden.
She
is co-creator of the award-winning ELECTRIGIRL Series for Oxford University
Press and her current project, a graphic novel set in Surrey ,
was a finalist in the Laydeez Do Comics Prize 2018. Since returning to the town
she’s thrown herself in to local projects and community collaborations.
In
2018 she is artist-in-residence at Rye Meadows Wetland, Ashtead; visiting
lecturer at UCA, Farnham; and will be delivering workshops at the Big Draw,
Epsom in October. She will also be opening her studio to the public during the
Surrey Artists’ Open Studios event in June and running a series of creative
workshops there throughout the summer. She and Lorraine Spindler, curator at Hampton Cottage, are also planning future
artistic collaborations.