ABOUT THE ARTIST
Emma painting at Three Storeys - Photographed by Kazz Hollick ahead of the SVA open studio trail.
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My work is inspired by the simple delight of beautiful things. Observed and studied in a pocket sketchbook, these paintings feed into larger pictures and ideas, in the style of traditional hand drawn illustrations. From the jewel-like colours of Lepidoptera, to the changing hedgerows, and even the bustle of a busy market. My main focus is always figures, they capture my attention like nothing else. I specialise in catching this movement and the characters I encounter.
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I'm currently working part-time on editorial watercolours and commissions from my studio in Nailsworth, around teaching painting and drawing workshops in Gloucestershire, and studying for an MA in Children's Book Illustration at Anglia Ruskin University.
In my spare time, I nurture a quiet but enduring love of reading, a delight in gardening, as well as British wildlife, and a fascination with handmade clothes.
At Cambridge School of Art - @CSACBI
MA Children's Book Illustration at The Cambridge School of Art (also known as ARU) is a groundbreaking course routed in traditions that John Ruskin set out. It's all about drawing, and in-person teaching; learning from the very best and I'm extremely lucky to have a place. I'm now 1/5th into this 2.5 year course and amazed by the way my work and understanding is already changing. The first term focused on observational drawing and experimental materials so I spent much time with my sketchbook on very cold benches, or drawing passersby on the tube. This term our focus will be sequential imagery, with opportunities to use printmaking. The end goal is, of course, to make children's picture books but the process is equally important and fraught with creative challenge and delight. ​ See more information on ARU's website here. Follow @CSACBI on Instagram here. Support my fundraising efforts for travel to Cambridge here.
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Above image: Sketchbook extract from Module 1, waiting for a delayed train at Cambridge Station.