Born in Highgate, London, Church went onto study at Brighton and trained at the Royal Academy School and the Slade. Church regularly would exhibit at the Royal Academy and achieved her first solo exhibition at the Wertheim Gallery in 1933. Church was inspired by the classic painters such as Ivon Hitchens and after working in London for several years she moved to the countryside to live with her husband Anthony West. Katherine continued to exhibit her work, mostly at the Tate Gallery and also at the National Museum of Wales. In 1964, she moved to Sutton House in Dorset and would hold open house for her friends. She continued to live and paint in Dorset in 1999.