My Career: Artist, illustrator and author Kathi Burke

Did you always want to be an illustrator?
I always wanted to do some kind of version of what I do now, but I didn’t always have the language or know what an “illustrator” was. I still haven’t really landed on a good word to describe what I do, because I work with writing stories, painting, character design, graphic design, illustration, and I run workshops for children…so I guess “creative” or “artist” is more apt these days. But I always wanted to tell stories and draw, so I guess I’m doing that.

In college, I studied… visual communication in NCAD for my undergrad from 2008-2012. That course taught me design sensibilities, the language and the skills I use in my work now. I also met most of my best friends during that time! But my favourite part was the foundation year where I got to try a bit of everything – it really taught me how to experiment and play in my work. I have just finished doing a Master’s degree in Children’s Literature in Trinity College Dublin too, which I have been working on over the past two years. I had always wanted to study literature because my love of art is equal only to my love of reading. 

My most formative work experience was… the internship I won after graduating from NCAD – ThreeX3 – where I spent three months in three amazing Dublin design studios; ZeroG, Detail and Atelier David Smith. I learned a lot about their design processes and the reality of working with clients, specifically how to fulfil briefs and manage my time on projects successfully. 

My first real job was… working in my mam’s petrol station when I was 13. As for my first real design job? It’s hard to know, really, because I was working freelance the whole time I was in college, doing gig posters for friend’s clubnights, and my own. I used to DJ with my pal Shane Kenna back in the Tripod days and together we did the identity for our night Notorious. That felt pretty legit at the time, knocking up Facebook event artwork and little promo videos.  

The most invaluable thing I learned early on in my career was… how to manage my time. When I was starting out, I would juggle tons of jobs of different sizes so prioritising tasks was something I had to (and still have to) make a conscious effort at. I’m naturally a pretty disorganised person so I need to make project calendars and lists for every aspect of every job or else I become an anxious mess. 

A common misconception about what I do is… that I take a sketchbook everywhere with me. Though I’m a very visual person, I’m more of a note-taker and describe ideas in words rather than images when I’m in the planning stages. If an idea presents itself to me, I go straight to doing a finished colour version of how I envisage it rather than doing tons of sketches and mockups. This is awkward sometimes when clients request sketches cause I generally want to get the finished idea out of me in its final iteration and move on to my next idea. 

My main responsibility in work is to… tell stories visually and communicate an idea as clearly as possible. If I’m working with a client, I need to take their vision and put my spin on it, conveying a bigger message in its simplest form. When working on personal projects, I find that my main responsibility is translating what I find interesting into something that other people can relate to. 

Do you have a career mentor or someone you look up to/seek advice from?  I’m lucky in that I have a lot of talented and creative friends, so I generally use them as sounding boards. Shane, who I mentioned earlier, is the creative director at Thinkhouse now, and his opinion matters a lot to me, so if something is niggling at me, I turn to him for advice. My illustrator friends are invaluable to me also cause they understand the demands and frustrations of the job. Aoife Dooley, Steve McCarthy, Conor Nolan and Fuchsia Macaree are all people I respect and am lucky to call friends.

The biggest risk I have taken in my career so far is… taking on the aforementioned Master’s degree! During lockdown, I was feeling a bit unsatisfied with where my career was going and where I was placing my attention. I stopped taking on most client work and really focused on learning something new. Although from the outside it looked like I was successful, to me, it didn’t feel like I was using my talents as well as I could be. I took a big risk by slowing down and redirecting my energy, but this has paid dividends because I am so much clearer on what I want to achieve in the future now. 

I wake at… 8ish to the sound of Marty Whelan on Lyric FM. 

The first thing I do every morning is… make a cup of coffee and pet my two cats, Pingu and Milky. 

My morning routine is… about two hours long – the joy of working for myself! I will light incense, do some yoga, journal, read some tarot (yes I am that girl), get washed and dressed before either heading to the gym in my building or going for a walk in the park. 

I can’t go to work without… checking my calendar and making a bunch of lists. I normally write down what the day’s focus is and then list out all the tasks I’d like to complete by the end of that day. I get a real buzz out of ticking things off so I break everything down into small increments – “check emails” and “reply to emails” are two separate tasks and no one can tell me different. 

I travel to work by… literally walking to the sitting room. At the moment, I’m in a very small apartment where me and my boyfriend both live and work, but I’m so excited to be moving to my hometown Waterford this month where I’m going to have my own studio space in a gallery there. It will be nice to have a little walk to work and to be able to separate home from work too. 

On an average workday, I… like to focus on only one aspect of my job, be that either creating, editing, output, meetings or admin. I find it difficult to switch between modes these days, so if I’m in a creative mindset I’ll work on my iPad or do some drawing, but if I’m preparing my taxes or something there’s no way I can then switch to being in an arty state of mind. I used to force it but have learned over time to just go with how I feel on a given day. 

I start my working day at… about 10:30am, after breakfast, but there really is no average day for me. With college on top of everything else, I have been cutting my week in half and spending some days reading and writing for coursework, and then other days doing my client work. It really does depend on what’s on my plate at any given time, and then if I get hyperfocused I’ll work through the night on a wave of manic inspiration!

The first thing I do at work is… find some inspiration. I am a bit of a magpie and have reams of notes and images that I collect and go back to for little nuggets that inspire me. I could browse Pinterest for 10 minutes, or watch some old RTÉ archive videos or just read a book – but I’ll always do something to kick off my creative side. 

I usually spend the first portion of the day… eating the frog –  getting the worst part out of the way basically. Planning and organising stuff generally gets done early on. I honestly hate admin, social media, and emails, so if I have a ton of stuff to read and reply to, I’ll try to get that done early so it’s not hanging over my head when I’m trying to create. 

I break for lunch at… about 2pm and usually have leftovers from the night before; noodles or pasta or a bowl of rice and beans. Something hot anyway. I’m really not a sandwich person, they always remind me of trains and airports. 

The most useful business tool I use every day is… a desktop app called Asana. I’ve had it for years, and although it’s really meant to be used by teams I find it’s a really intuitive tool for a freelancer like me who has lots of different projects on the go. I like to be able to colour code and set my tasks there so I can see how best to structure my week. 

I save time by… not using social media much anymore. I used to be a chronically online girly but I cut that out and now just use my Instagram to post projects. It was fun for a while, but I realised I didn’t want to be known as a ‘content creator’ over my actual work. 

I rarely get through my working day without…watching some of comedian Limmy’s livestreams on Twitch. His channel is a new obsession of mine – I always need to get a little Limmy fix in the middle of the day!

The best part of my day is…  when a bunch of little ideas all come together and it’s like I’ve unlocked something really special. I get this hot feeling in my abdomen like a real rush of excitement when that happens. Chasing that feeling is what keeps me in this game for sure. 

The most challenging part of my day is… knowing when to stop. I do struggle with maintaining balance and I can easily fall into hyperfocus where everything else in life is pushed to one side as I write or draw or plan out a project idea.

I know it’s been a good day if… I’ve lost all concept of time. 

I usually end my day at… 6pm, but that’s just because that’s when my fella finishes work. If I’m home alone I keep drawing or writing til bedtime – it’s what I enjoy doing most. 

I switch off from work by… cooking a meal. Chopping up vegetables is honestly one of my favourite ways to detach from work, there is something really relaxing about it to me. 

Before I go to bed, I’ll… watch Seinfeld, eat a bunch of biscuits and tire my cats out with a laser pointer. Then I’ll make a cup of tea, put my hair in a scarf and tidy up so I don’t have to deal with a mess the next day. 

I often prepare for tomorrow by… journalling some more. I write about what I think went well that day and write about what I want to do tomorrow. I like to check in on my long and short-term goals often to stay conscious of the big picture.  

After a long work week, I destress by… meeting my mates, going for a pint and chatting until my cheeks hurt. I love going to see live stand-up and concerts too, so any combination of laughing, singing and dancing is my ideal way to spend the weekend. 

The accomplishment I’m most proud of is… getting to design a line of merchandise and an interactive installation for the Guinness Storehouse this year, which was open to visitors in James’ Gate throughout the summer as part of ‘Lovely Day for a Visit’. It was a real thing of dreams that job, and to get to do it with the support of my friends Rosie and Greg at Hen’s Teeth was amazing. When I first moved to Dublin at age 18, I was living just off James’ street and the smell from the Guinness Storehouse was the first thing that welcomed me here. I had an obsession ever since, and so to get to put my stamp on their iconic branding and building is just insane. 

If you want to get into my line of work, my advice is to…really get to know yourself and ask yourself why you want to do it – I suppose that’s true of any job. I think it’s important to know what you want out of illustration because it requires more than just artistic skill, it requires you to put yourself out there for people to consume. It really is a multifaceted line of work that can adapt to fit any niche or area that you’re interested in. 

I’ve just finished working on… writing my thesis about the under- and misrepresentation of Travellers in Irish children’s literature. At the moment I’m working on a collection of paintings for positive climate action which will be exhibited in Waterford Index Gallery in October 2023. 

You can keep up to date with all of Kathi Burke’s work via her social media and website. 

Imagery provided by Kathi Burke