Island Artist

Her family home on Burgh Island, a tiny tidal island in Devon, inspires Emma’s collection of expressive new originals and limited editions. Dartmoor, The English Riviera and other islands also serve as a huge inspiration, paintings are created after Emma walks, sails and explores the wonderful British landscape and waters.

Her work is inspired our relationship with our environment and the elements, timeless and raw, expressive and free spirited.

Many pieces were painted on Burgh Island or at the Mongolian yurt on Dartmoor she retreats to, as a recluse, to focus on her practice as a contemporary British painter which has spanned 30 years.

ISLAND ARTIST BURGH ISLAND RESIDENCY EXHIBITION
BURGH ISLAND HOTEL

10 – 18th October 11 – 4pm 2024

Emma will be holding a special BURGH ISLAND Artist in Residence exhibition again and painting at The Burgh Island Hotel alongside her normal collection of originals and limited editions based on her beloved muse Burgh Island and the surrounding coastline. Emma has painted on the island since she could hold a paintbrush and Emma’s family are the longest standing residents on Burgh Island spanning 47 years.
Emma will work and display her original paintings and limited editions in the Grand Ballroom at
The Burgh Island Hotel, Bigbury on Sea Devon.

Please call 01548 810514 to book in to visit and discuss island access and tide times.

NOW ON

SPIRIT OF THE SKY ‘
2024 SOLO SHOW
AVONMILL, LODDISWELL, NEAR KINGSBRIDGE
DEVON TQ7 4DD
1 June – Oct 11th 2024

This expressive original collection was produced in 2024 on Burgh Island , her family home or living in a yurt off grid surrounded by nature on a special piece of Dartmoor re-wilded land with ancient woodlands, rare indigenous species and stunning inspirational views. Emma travels here to paint as an artist recluse uninterrupted except by her dogs to focus entirely on her practice as a painter.
The result is Emma’s most free flowing expressive work to date, full of colour and the raw energy of the elemental island and the atmospheric moors, including a piece that Emma will submit to The Royal Academy of Arts in the summer of 2024.

BLOCK 

THE ROYAL WILLIAM YARD – PLYMOUTH 

RESIDENCY 

SEPTEMBER 19th 10 – 4pm

Emma has been invited to collaborate with the urban regeneration project that is BLOCK which sees community at it’s heart whilst providing work, social, health arenas at The Royal William Yard in Plymouth. Royal William Yard, a place steeped in history, exudes an aura of grandeur and significance. Once a vital hub of the British Royal Navy, its imposing structures and elegant facades whisper tales of maritime prowess and industrial innovation. Emma’s artistic exploration is poised to unravel the layers of history that have shaped this iconic locale, capturing the essence of its heritage and breathing new life into its narrative.

Emma’s residency presents an opportunity to interpret and reimagine this architectural heritage through the lens of contemporary art, infusing the old with the new, and creating a dialogue between tradition and innovation. Urban regeneration, a transformative force, has breathed vitality into Royal William Yard, redefining its purpose and revitalizing its spirit. As the artist-in-residence, Emma is poised to reflect this regeneration through her work, capturing the dynamism and energy that now permeate this historic space. Her art becomes a mirror to the evolving identity of the Yard, celebrating its resilience and adaptability in the face of change.

In her art, the past and the present converge, and the essence of Royal William Yard finds a voice that resonates far beyond its storied walls.

Royal William Yard, Melville Building, Plymouth PL1 3RP

ENGLISH RIVIERA STUDIO AT ARTIST’S HOUSE

OPEN FOR APPOINTMENTS (all year round)
PLEASE CALL EMMA IN ADVANCE – 07786 810277

BEST OF BRITISH BY THE SEA CHANNEL 4, NETFLIX AND MGV PRODUCTION

Emma was approached by MGV Productions in 2023 to feature in two cinematic short films about her life as an artist with Burgh Island being a central theme and also The English Riviera.

Emma also represented Southwest artists talent on ‘Best of British by the sea’ on Channel More 4 which was filmed in 2022 on Burgh Island with Grace Dent, Ainsley Harriott and Emma during an Island Artist Experience and appeared on Netflix ‘Travels with my father’.

Emma has also been commissioned to paint for a British Prime Minister to represent Southwest talent.

GALLERIES NOW OPEN

IN SALCOMBE, MODBURY, TOPSHAM, EXMOUTH, AVON MILL GALLERY
Gallery 5, Island Street – Salcombe
Artenox – Topsham
The Brownston Gallery – Modbury
Avon Mill – Loddiswell

CONTACT

Emma 07786 810277 or email for studio visit appointments, discuss commissions and art sales.

[email protected]

GIFT VOUCHERS

Gift vouchers can be sent or emailed for artwork, commissions, art holidays, workshops and tuition.

ARTIST STATEMENT

‘Big stormy seas, wild winds and the raw coastline and rugged moorland landscape of the South West inspire me.

My happiest moments are spent on a South Hams beach on a ancient path or mossy woodlands at any time of the year, alone or with company, young or old.

I guess I’m not the only one…

Burgh Island is a very special place, somewhere I can come home to with my family.

Since a young child I’ve carved out an imagination fed by tides and elements, sea journeys and sea fables told from the seats of ancient mariners in the Pilchard Inn. Anyone that has been there will understand the attraction to this unique island 200 meters from the English mainland, sometimes it feels like a different country.

It is why I am an Island Artist.

I like the hidden empty beaches where I can swim on hot hazy summer English days and big wide winter skies that offer up a myriad of colours. I like tides coming in and watching tides going out.

I dream

I think

I paint.

I paint what I love…

I try to translate that free spirited essence that I think we all crave from time to time.

I like to express emotion in my practice, to let loose with a brush, rag or hands on a canvas, to give relief from all that ties us down to an otherwise ordinary life.

I paint natural wild places and ancient moorlands that I myself return to time and time again, and as I paint from my mind in my studio, I have at least a thousand paintings waiting to be painted. I hope I am lucky enough to grow old enough to fulfil that ambition and have the courage to always challenge myself as an artist…’

The success as a contemporary British painter and the Island Artist in the last few years has resulted in Emma being invited to feature in a Netflix series ‘Travels with my father’ based on Burgh Island and a new channel 4 series ‘ The best of British by the sea’ aired in May 22.

Emma was also approached in summer 2023 to have two cinematic short films made about her by MGV Productions about Emma as an Island Artist and her story of her love affair with Burgh Island and also The English Riviera.

Emma also appears in The Times and Sunday Times Newspaper as an expert in their ‘little black of experts’, Coast Magazine and Vogue as well as other publications.

Emma continues to show in galleries in the South West and have solo shows and is collected by discerning collectors worldwide.