Kay was born in Sheffield. As a child she would often spend hours at a time drawing on rolls of wallpaper; this was the beginning of her passion for art. Kay studied illustration at Wrexham College before working as a freelance illustrator. She produced editorial work for Womens Weekly, Bella, My Weekly, Sunday Express and Womans Own. Her illustration work has carried her through to major book publishers such as Hodder and Staughton, Wadsworth Romantics, Mills and Boon and Mandarin. Although Kay is proud of her achievement in commercial illustration her true vocation is as an artist. Kays career as an artist has flourished; her pastel and pencil drawings have become instantly recognisable, and her work has graced private collections for many years, and she is now firmly established as a leading figurative artist.