Catherine May Vondrak is a Bath based artist who specialises in Gothic Illustrations. She is mostly self-taught and after studying a BA in History with Economics at York University she went on to attend classes at the historic arts school at Porthmeor Studios, St. Ives to amass basic techniques. Catherine’s creative background led her to pursue a career as a make-up and prosthetic artist in film and television while painting part-time. After completing an MA in Television Production at Falmouth University alongside studying media makeup at the Peter King make-up course in Bath and Pinewood studios, Catherine won a Halloween make-up competition judged by Oscar winner, Peter King for her entry ‘The Lady of the Web’. She then went on to work on award winning shorts as well as a variety of productions including ‘Alice through the Looking Glass’, ‘Sherlock’ and ‘Poldark’ before turning her attention back to her writing and artwork.

Catherine has currently curated three solo art exhibitions in Bath. Her most recent being ‘The Midnight Garden’ in Walcot Chapel, 2018. She has exhibited in Cornwall as well as International Exhibitions online and was shortlisted for the Visual Art Open 2021. Catherine has sold her work internationally and continues to exhibit in the South West where she is also an associate member of 44AD in Bath and the Arts Club in St. Ives, Cornwall. Catherine also enjoys painting birds, mixed media collage and assemblage. She sells her Fantasy themed work at a variety of fairs including the Glastonbury Fairy Fair and has a new Etsy Shop- ‘The Raven’s Temple’.

The inspiration for Catherine’s artwork is drawn from many sources including from her fascination of birds and her favourite authors. She finds the poems of Edgar Allan Poe really ignites her creativity and ideas. She has a fascination with Gothic fiction and ghost stories as well as a partiality towards skulls and skeletons! Catherine also finds influence in folklore and fairies and feels that these are elements she often includes in her artwork as well as her writing. Her love of fantasy, the strange and sometimes the macabre are the driving forces behind her creativity. Most recently, Catherine has been inspired and influenced by Ukrainian Folk Art and loves to incorporate these design elements into her paintings- with a Gothic twist.

Apart from her art Catherine loves writing and is currently working on a series of ghostly tales based on Dartmoor Legends and a children’s Steampunk adventure novel.