29th March 2018

At Spinnaker Tower, we are on a journey to work with a range local suppliers located within the 23 mile radius of our breath-taking view both within in our retail and catering services, giving our guests a real taste of Portsmouth.

Bay Tree Gallery is an online store dedicated to stylish prints and gifts. The chief creative behind these unique and trendy products is Kate Rees.

Kate was born in Portsmouth and grew up messing about in boats on the beach – “it’s my favourite place to be. I’ve always been a doodler and find huge happiness when being creative, I love working on coastal themes, typography and good old-fashioned sketches”. Kate worked in the gift and greetings industry for a number of years and one day decided to start designing her own things when she couldn’t find a particular print she wanted. Last year, Kate illustrated her first ‘Portsmouth & Southsea Colouring Book’ and has been fortunate enough to sell her cards and prints as part of Southsea’s creative scene for some time.

Kate works in her home studio and uses a combination of hand drawn and computer graphic techniques. She even gets the watercolours out sometimes! Kate loves to play around with typography and colour schemes, “especially when the words really mean something”. Kate is a self-confessed sucker for coastal colour palettes and absolutely loves roaming the beach looking for inspiration. Kate has always been arty and just started experimenting with precious metal clay! Kate likes to use local printers and always tries to keep the pound in Pompey.

Kate’s inspiration comes from a combination of living on the coast and interior trends. She lives to read magazines cover to cover and keep abreast of what is trending. Since having children, Kate has naturally been interested in things which appeal to youngsters. Her colouring book was inspired by the many places and activities she has done with her two boys…”Portsmouth is a lovely place to raise children, you are never bored by the sea. I spend a lot of time on the Isle of Wight too, Colwell Bay is one of my favourite chill-out spots ever”.

“I feel immensely proud to be working with the tower. The February half term, stories from the city trail was a lovely initiative which gets children thinking about the area and really enjoying the view. I think anything which gets youngsters away from screens is a good thing…and the view from the tower is just so incredible! I have visited the tower on many occasions and each time the landscape and the view changes. I can’t wait to design some more goodies for visitors to enjoy.”

Within our Gift Shop here at Emirates Spinnaker Tower, you can find the Bay Tree Gallery’s beautiful Portsmouth & Southsea Colouring Book, featuring great recognisable places such as The Mary Rose, Hovercraft and the Spinnaker Tower, of course! You can find more of Kate’s unique prints and homeware on her website, Bay Tree Gallery.
As of Good Friday, 30th March, the Waterfront Café will also be giving out a Kids Colouring-in Place Mat, illustrated by Kate Rees at Bay Tree Gallery, with any kids meal – perfect to keep them busy while you enjoy a meal with a magical harbour view!