About Betty & The Lovecats

Betty & The Lovecats is operated by Betty, the artist and cat lover behind the kitschy home wares you've been admiring. I'm Betty, Hi!

I reside in hartlepool, in the UK, where I work full time as an artist. I paint, sculpt, sew, draw, work on digital designs, make molds and create castings. I live with my cat, Rizzo and spend all of my time working on Betty & The Lovecats, it is my passion in life and I experience a compulsion to create things. Betty & The Lovecats makes it possible for me to explore every creative idea I have and you, my customers, make it possible for me to do it full time and I am eternally grateful!

I'm inspired mostly by a pair of Staffordshire dog ornaments my great granny, then granny kept on their mantle pieces. I now keep those dogs on the mantle in my home studio where I can see them every day. They were always a pair of objects that people had very strong reactions towards. They either loved them and thought they were gorgeous, or hated them and couldn't understand why anyone would display them in their home. I suppose you could say that's the thesis behind the pieces I create and sell. I'm searching for that group of people who can see the beauty in kitsch, like me. 

Other inspiration includes; The sets and costume design in Edward Scissor Hands (1990), Kissing Town and The Sheep and Shepherdess competition in The 10th Kingdom (2000), Polly Pockets and the homes of grandmothers and fancy old cat ladies who leave their fortunes to their cats.

I studied at The Northern School of Art, Green Lane campus (formally CCAD) on the Design Crafts course from 2009 until 2011. I then went on to Nottingham Trent University to study Decorative Arts from 2011 until 2015.

I have exhibited at:

  • New Designers 2015.
  • Let Us Eat Cake Part 2 @ Pineapple Black, Middlesbrough 2021.
  • Let Us Eat Cake Part 3 @ Base Camp Middlesbrough 2022.

Thanks so much for looking!

Don't hesitate to get in touch via the contact form with queries, exhibition opportunities, art market opportunities or collaboration ideas.