ALL ABOUT ME
The Story Behind the Paintings
Hi, I'm Emily. I'm an artist, former teacher, mum and lifelong lover of colour, based in Hartlepool in the
North East of England.
I was brought up in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, here I grew up surrounded by hills and spent most of my childhood in the forest jumping in streams and making shit perfume!
Nature has been ingrained in me from a young age and it is the place that holds me.
I've also always loved colour. Bright, bold, unapologetic colour.
The sort that makes you stop, look twice and feel something. For me, the more neon the better!
After leaving Yorkshire, I came to Hartlepool to study at The Northern School of Art. I went on to build a career in art, design and photography education, teaching for 15 years.
Teaching was a huge part of my life. I worked with hundreds of young people, encouraging them to experiment, explore ideas and find their own creative voices. But somewhere along the way I lost myself!
Becoming a mum in 2018 helped me find my way back to creativity. Then, after years of teaching, I reached a point where I needed something to change. In 2023, I stepped away from the classroom to pursue life as a freelance artist.
It was bloody scary - but I knew I needed to do it!
I wanted to make space for my own creativity again, but I was also beginning to discover that art could offer something much deeper than producing a finished painting.
“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me, too.
Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.” – Frida Kahlo