Kate Adams
b. 1989 Weymouth, Massachusetts
BFA, The Rhode Island School of Design, 2012.
Kate grew up in Massachusetts and now works in the Philadelphia area. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration and a Concentration in English Literature. In 2011, she worked and studied in Rome, Italy as part of the European Honors Program.
Growing up in historical wooded New England, Kate has always had a love for nature and a curiosity for the past. As she traveled and learned about other countries and cultures, she was also fascinated by tales from myth and folklore which seemed to imbue the everyday world with supernatural mystery. Today, Kate’s work invites the viewer into a world of heroines and goddesses that feels as real as it does magical.
For the past fourteen years, Kate has worked exclusively in scratchboard, which is a board coated with black ink that is scratched away in a reductive process to reveal the white layer underneath. Kate uses only an x-acto knife as well as thin washes of ink which are brushed and stippled to darken and correct, the scratchboard version of an eraser.
Her technique draws inspiration from classical painting as well as drawing, having developed a method of layering delicate marks for a soft and luminous effect in the spirit of chiaroscuro and sfumato. Her recent work contrasts the cool gray and black of scratchboard with the shining warmth of gold leaf.
Click here to learn more about Kate’s process. A member of the International Society of Scratchboard Artists, Kate has also taught several workshops and loves being able to share her insights and passion for the medium with others.
Selected Bibliography
2021 International Realism: 16th International ARC Salon, ACC Art Books
2013-2017 Lockwood and Co. Books 1-5, Chapter Illustrations, Disney Book Group
2015 Monarch Tabletop Card Game, Resonym
2014 Creative Quarterly 100 Best Annual, Artisanal Media LLC
2013 Spectrum 20: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Flesk Publications
Lectures and Workshops
2022-2024 Guest Artist: Scratchboard, Pen, and Ink, The Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
2023 Scratchboard Color Workshop, Ventress Memorial Library, Marshfield, MA
2017 Illustration Workshop, Princeton Day School, Princeton, NJ
2015-2016 Scratchboard Workshop Series, Bay Farm Montessori Academy, Duxbury, MA
Selected Exhibitions
2025 Las Noches, Haven Gallery, Northport, NY
2024 Small Works 2024, Main Street Arts, Clifton Springs, NY
2023 The 16th International ARC Salon, Sotheby’s, New York City, NY
Honors and Awards
2025 Best in Show: Sibyl, Boskone Art Show, Boston, MA
2025 Judge’s Choice: Nocturne II (Induction), Boskone Art Show, Boston, MA
2025 Director’s Choice: Nocturne II (Induction), Boskone Art Show, Boston, MA
2024 Popular Choice: The Wardrobe Master, Arisia Art Show, Boston, MA
2023 Dual Category Award: Nocturne VI (Serenity), 16th Annual ARC Salon, Sotheby’s, New York City, NY
2023 RAYMAR Traditional Art Award Finalist: Nocturne VI (Serenity), Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize
2023 Juror, Master Level Members’ Exhibition, International Society of Scratchboard Artists
2020 Popular Choice: Nocturne V (Flight), Arisia Art Show, Boston MA