Emma Dunbar

Born in England in 1961, I graduated in 1984 with a   BA(hons) in Fine Art Printmaking from West Surrey College of Art and Design.

Since then I have worked full time as an artist and exhibited throughout the UK. My paintings have been internationally reproduced as greetings cards, posters, limited edition etchings and even fabric designs.

What excites me about making pictures is trying to capture the essence of a place, or a thing, I am not worried about visual accuracy. I am attracted to vivid colours and the decorative qualities in everyday objects.

My daily dog walks, holidays and even trips to the supermarket provide inspiration. Landscapes, new seasons, sometimes just colour combinations, bright green grass against a blue grey sky or shapes of moored boats in a harbour, patterns on packaging all get me going. Fabulous bunches of flowers on a flattened table are frequently all I need and I am regularly purchasing new mugs for the next painting!

I work mainly on board in acrylic, occasionally incorporating collage with gold and silver leaf. My training as a printmaker is evident both in the use of blocks of flat colour and in the way I scratch through surfaces to reveal pre-laid colours underneath.

My influences come from travelling in India, Cornish holidays and the chaos of cats and children wandering onto wet paint. I have also drawn inspiration from the work of favourite artists, including Mary Fedden, Milton Avery and Daphne McClure.