Kitchin was born in
Newbury, Berkshire into a Welsh family. She studied at the
Hornsey School of Art in London from 1935 to 1939. During World War II, Kitchin combined studying part-time at the
Slade School of Fine Art with training to be a nurse at the
Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford and won a Slade Composition prize in 1944. ==References==