Who are you and what do you do?
I am Victoria, and I am the person behind my self named brand, Victoria Catten. I combine Illustration and Printed Textile Design to create playful, colourful, and patterned products for you and your home to enjoy which are inspired by nostalgia. I am best known for my ‘Pals’; a range of screen printed padded animal characters. These also feature on a range of other products including acrylic hair grips and paper goods, such as prints and cards which are all made by me in my studio or with the help of other Norwich based businesses.
How and why did you settle on nozza to place roots for your business?
I was born in Norwich and was brought up in North Norfolk. I decided to start making and selling work this year after completing my Masters in Textile Design at Norwich University of the Arts as I always knew I wanted to work for myself and create my own small business. I also did my BA in Illustration here and learnt so much along the five years and developed a strong practice from a lot of hours in
the print room! I currently sell my work at markets around the UK and through my website.
What have been some of your favourite projects to work on?
Since starting in January, I feel proud to have got to this stage with my business with launching products and attending markets. I have been working with a creative business mentor which has been amazing, since leaving education I have sometimes found it hard to trust my process, as it can be quite isolating working alone. So, I would love to start collaborating again, this is something I did a lot of last year and it was a lot of fun working with other types of creatives as we all think differently about the process of designing and making.
Where is your favourite place to visit in Norfolk and why?
I spent a lot of time as a child at beaches or around animals in the countryside. The main places I used to visit were Cley and Blakeney where I would be eating ice cream, whatever time of the year it was! As well as feeding the swans, ponies, and ducks. I still enjoy doing these things now, I find it very relaxing and of course, nostalgic. I have found some places around Norwich to continue doing this such as Wensum Park and Waterloo Park which are my local favourites. This has organically over the years inspired a lot of my work, as my most popular pieces are my animal related screen-printed products.
How can people find you?
I am having a pop up shop on the 26th and 27th of November at Norwich Pop up NR3, which is next door to and owned by Norfolk Retro. I will be selling all of my illustrated textile products and will have some exclusive products for sale there too! I am so excited about this as St Augustine’s is one of my favourite streets with all of its independent places to shop. I had my first ever concept store that I designed back in July 2021 during my master’s down this street too, so it’s nice to continue the theme of where people originally saw my first shop set up.
Saturday 26th November 10.30 - 5.30
Sunday 27th November 10.30 - 4.30
www.victoriacatten.com | @victoriacatten