Arthur Charles Kemp was born in King's Heath, Birmingham, England on 13 June 1905. After training as a musician at the Midland Institute in Birmingham, England, he joined the City of Birmingham Orchestra. Art had always been his principle interest and in c.1934 he entered Birmingham School of Art from where he graduated in 1936. He also qualified as an art teacher. He was subsequently employed as a teacher for the next few years in Worcestershire. He also worked as a painter, silversmith and jewellery designer. In the early 1940s Kemp and his family moved to Rugby in Warwickshire, where he received a commission to create a large mosaic for the College of Technology. Kemp exhibited at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, and at the Royal Academy in London.