Daughter of Samuel (a barrister) and Marion 'May' Earle, Kathleen moved with her family from Eltham to Bromley in 1901, and their house 'The Thwaite' was the family home throughout her young years.  As she had qualified as an Assistant Teacher while at school, her parents wanted her to be a teacher, but whilst at her small finishing school (near Hastings, Sussex) where she became known as an accomplished artist, she read about the FORBES SCHOOL in The Studio and proceeded to apply for further study there (1910-11).

She introduced to Newlyn, and later married in 1918, Alec George WALKER, an artist-craftsman. Together they set up a fabric-designing and -making business known as Cryséde, first in Newlyn at Myrtle Cottage (the 'Myrtage') and later in St Ives.

Myrtle Cottage had been a boarding house pre WWI for the pupils of the FORBES School. They drew their primary inspiration for their designs from the local natural environment. Kathleen not only exhibited paintings (1924) but also illustrations, dolls and leatherwork up until the 1930s at NAG. (See Alec George WALKER and CRYSEDE entries for fuller accounts of the work.)

[Photo likenesses of Kay and Alec in Hardie 1995, p59 and Hardie 2009, p65]