About Katharine Ambrose

Although Kate Ambrose was born in 1950 to an English father and a Swedish mother, her art and heart are firmly rooted in Africa - its civilization, landscapes, and attendant social commentary.

All are captured in Ambrose's famous acrylic-on-canvas township paintings. After reading Religious Studies at Lancaster University in England, Ambrose and her late husband, an Anglican priest, settled in the mining town of Rustenburg in South Africa. The famous watercolorist Bill McGill came across her paintings and invited her to join his art classes there.

Ambrose became a full-time artist in 1984. "People often want to know about my township connection. They want to know why I opted to paint these townships. I went to townships a lot with both my husbands, who each went to help people: Giles as a pastor and my second husband, David Dalling, as a politician".

"They established schools, churches, clinics, and built communities up. They listened to people's needs and took their side through the apartheid years. I tagged along and was inspired by the huge scope. The residents let me express my positive philosophy of our shared humanity."

Ambrose has exhibited all over South Africa, Germany, Malaysia, France, Switzerland, Ireland, the USA, and the UK. Ambrose lives in Somerset West outside Cape Town.