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 developed an innate love for nature and a deep
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.
Kate has worked in scratchboard exclusively for the past 14 years. She uses only an x-acto blade 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.
Kate Adams
b. 1989 Boston, Massachusetts
BFA, The Rhode Island School of Design, 2012.
Honors and Awards
2025 Best in Show: Sibyl, Boskone Art Show, Boston, MA
2025 Judge’s Choice: Nocturne I, Boskone Art Show, Boston, MA
2025 Director’s Choice: Nocturne I, Boskone Art Show, Boston, MA
2024 Popular Choice: The W ardrobe 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, Arisia Art Show, Boston MA
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 T abletop Card Game, Resonym
2014 Creative Quarterly 100 Best Annual, Artisanal Media LLC
2013 Spectrum 20: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Flesk Publications
Lecture
2022-2024 Annual Guest Artist: Scratchboard, Pen, and Ink, The Rhode Island School of Design,
Providence, RI
2017 Guest Artist, Princeton Day School, Princeton, NJ
Selected Exhibitions
2024 Small Works 2024, Main Street Arts, Clifton Springs, NY
2023 The 16th International ARC Salon, Sotheby's, New York City, NY