Katharine Jennings Fine Art Studio and Coffee House Rotherfield

Our studio building dates back to the tudor times and is steeped in history, with a well in the outside courtyard area, an artists library area and second hand art materials swap shop. We serve coffee, tea, other drinks and have a range of snacks to enjoy whilst you sit and relax, get creative and discover your artistic side. We are set in the beautiful, rural village of Rotherfield, nestled between Mayfield, Tunbridge Wells and Crowborough, East Sussex with access to a vast amount of countryside on our doorstep. We are fortunate enough to have access to a forest school, just a walk away, as well as a recreation ground and fields upon fields, filled with an array of flora and fauna. It gives us plenty of inspiration to pass on to all who enter the studio, no matter what age or ability.

Katharine Jennings

Founder

Katharine has been a professional artist for around 30 years, specialising in portraiture and more recently, landscapes and still life. She works mainly in oils, her favourite medium, but has dabbled in all media.

Katharine comes from a long line of artists and entrepreneurs. Growing up in Kent and Sussex, Katharine was surrounded by artistic talent from both her mother, a professional florist and grandfather, the co owner of A & H Graphic Design Studio in London. Her family actively encouraged both an active and artistic lifestyle. Her youth was spent drawing commissions for friends and family, alongside competitive and social dinghy sailing. During this time Katharine studied Art GCSE and A-Level and became a qualified RYA Level 3 competent helm, RYA competent crew in yacht sailing and assistant RYA sailing instructor. Katharine went on to do a foundation diploma at Hastings College of Art and Design, before changing course completely and qualifying as a Property Lawyer in 2008.

In 2018, she started to run her own art studio, with the view to encourage others to become creative. Since then her business has continued to grow and now has over 70 students visiting her studio on a weekly basis of all ages. Katharine has done countless commissions and exhibited widely, with her work in collections all over the world including Australia and Switzerland.

Katharine lives with her husband and two children in the heart of the Sussex countryside.

Megan Miles

Lead Art Tutor running our Leonardos Art Club for 12-16s

Megan is a qualified Teacher of Art and a Mum to two young children. Her love for teaching art started early, having come from a family of teachers. She enjoys experimenting with any form of art or craft process and is always open to trying out new techniques. Megan particularly loves to work with different drawing processes, as well as painting and using 3D materials. Nature is often a starting point to her own work, taking inspiration from the colours, patterns, textures and forms in our natural surroundings. Over the years Megan has also enjoyed experimenting with printmaking and in particular etching.

Megan has taught Art and Design and Photography at secondary level for over 12 years. It remains incredibly important to her that all children are able to access the arts and that there is something creative that everybody can do. She has worked with students in a range of mediums including drawing, painting, printing, sculpture, fashion and photography and many of her students have continued to go on and have successful careers in the arts.

Prior to teaching Megan completed a Foundation Studies course and following this she studied a degree in Fine Art at the University College of Creative Arts.

In April 2022 Megan started working with Katharine and Sarah, assisting with the holiday clubs and leading the Leonardo’s Saturday morning art club for young people aged 12-16. She has enjoyed helping students to develop their creativity and confidence through their art work, building on the students own ideas and interests. The group have explored a wide range a really exciting projects, including ‘The Great British Cake Smash,’ where students created experimental artwork in response to a big still life, an ‘Identity’ project customizing shoes and a project exploring our relationship with the environment. In the winter a Christmas window installation was created by the students and they also curated their very own exhibition to celebrate the students’ artwork.