Meet The Team: Kitty Abberton
As part of our 'Meet The Team' series, we spoke to Resident Artist Kitty Abberton. What followed was a great chat about how Kitty first got into art, how her style has changed, and what her hopes are for 2020.
Please tell us your name, age, role in the magazine and what you currently do (i.e student or freelance writer etc)
Hi, so my name is Kitty, I’m 22, and one of the resident artists at BabyStep. Currently I’m a freelance artist, with my finger in a vintage clothing shop shaped pie.
Tell us how you got involved with BabyStep and what your role is within the magazine?
I got involved in the magazine when I got contacted about doing a piece of art for us back in 2018. My role is to create pieces of work either to feature independently of articles or to accompany written pieces.
Tell us about some other projects your involved in
Currently I’m working freelance and selling vintage togs but I’m excited as I’m about to start on two new gigs - making art to donate to homeless charities and making fidget and sensory toys for those with dementia.
What are earliest memories of getting into art and how has your style changed?
My family are all very creative, and I’m lucky - my parents would always have some sort of creative/arty project on the go, and they encouraged us to develop a creative flair. I remember when I was very little getting a book called something like ‘The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig’ and I just used to be obsessed by the juxtaposition - without knowing what the bleeding heck that was or meant. My style has changed a lot over the years - from being into photography and photorealism, I changed my tack to film and post production and editing. I then moved on to collage work and embroidery. I was stuck with just a pen and and paper for a while so took up drawing and more recently I’ve gone back to Photoshop and Adobe Animate and find these an excellent medium to work in.
What does BabyStep mean to you?
To me, BabyStep is freedom. A freedom of expression and just pure passion, topped with a zest for life. A solid community that brings together people from all walks of life.
A lot of your pieces include cartoons; where did your love of cartoons begin and do you have a favourite?
The majority of art I choose to show people does include cartoons. I developed this style whilst sourcing paintings and embroidery from charity shops, and devising them to have a crude quote or to feature one of my favourite friends from the cartoon world!
Are there any particular things that really inspire you to make the art you do?
Funnily enough, the cartoons that I watch, the world around me - I’m really interested in the mundanity of everyday life and focusing on the small details that often get forgotten. Colours is another thing - I’m big on colours - the past is another thing, things like fashion, music and adverts from years gone are all really important to me.
What was your favourite Album of the Decade?
I know it’s crap of me, but I’m not big on albums - I prefer remixes. However, any album by the Gorillaz had got to be up there!
Who are you favourite Artists/ Photographer at the moment?
Oh, I have many! But Martin Parr, Bhupen Khakhar and an illustrator called Laura Callaghan rest blissfully at the top!
Do you have anything excited coming up that you can tell our readers about?
So, I release new art everyday over on @tittyabberton (shameless plug!) but am bringing out a t-shirt and am working a website.
If you want to get involved in BabyStep Magazine apply HERE
