Emma Dunbar - Cornish Connections

About

Born in England in 1961, Emma Dunbar graduated in 1984 with a BA (hons) in Fine Art Printmaking from West Surrey College of Art and Design. Since then she has worked full time as an artist and exhibited throughout the UK. What excites Emma about making pictures is trying to capture the essence of a place. She is attracted to vivid colours and the decorative qualities in everyday objects, and enjoys rearranging the ingredients within her compositions to find the strongest effect. Her pictures are therefore more atmospheric than literal. Emma's aim is to end up with her gathered ingredients — glimpses of journeys, patterns from familiar settings and objects collected along the way — converging to create an image that communicates the richness of the original source of inspiration. She works mainly in acrylic on board, occasionally incorporating collage with gold and silver leaf. Emma's training as a printmaker is evident both in the use of blocks of flat colour and in the way she scratches through surfaces to reveal pre-laid colours underneath. Emma's influences come from travelling in India and Cornish holidays. She has also drawn inspiration from the work of favourite artists, including Mary Fedden, Milton Avery and Daphne McClure.