About Emma Woolley
I paint people. Not just how they look, but the quiet space between them. My work explores intimacy, vulnerability, and human connection, capturing moments most people don’t stop to see. Every canvas is an emotional record: of the subject, the space we share, and my own lived experience.
I work instinctively. Sometimes a piece is born from a long-held idea, sometimes it’s as immediate as photographing my partner on a Saturday morning and starting the painting the next day. Whether planned or impulsive, my process is always grounded in emotional response to the subject, the season, the music in the studio, my mental state in that moment. What appears on the canvas is never just the person in front of me, but the sum of our shared presence and my own lived experience.
Paint Lingers…
The Wonder Series emerged as I painted my way out of grief after losing someone deeply important. It was about crafted joy, possibility, and re-learning how to feel. The Space Between Us, my current body of work, turns that gaze outward - exploring the human need for closeness, how we relate to one another, and my own place within those connections. Between these, there are spontaneous works that happen in an instant and remind me why I fell in love with painting in the first place.
A Dual Creative Life
Alongside my painting, I’ve spent over 20 years in the creative industry as an art director, designer, and problem-solver. I’ve led campaigns, built brands, directed photography and film shoots, worked in motion graphics and 3D design - and learned the discipline of colour theory, storytelling, and emotional impact at every scale.
That world is precise, strategic, and rooted in brand psychology. Painting is the opposite: it’s where I let go, where instinct takes over. And yet, the two feed each other. My design background sharpens my eye for composition, balance, and tone. My painting keeps me open, playful, and more three-dimensional in my commercial work.
Timeline
2000s — BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Wolverhampton
2000s — BA (Hons) Graphic Design & Illustration, Coventry University
2000–Present — Art Director & Designer in advertising, branding, motion graphics, and 3D design
2024 — The Wonder Series: Solo exhibition, • nook • gallery & studios, Birmingham
2025 — The Space Between Us: Ongoing body of work exploring intimacy and connection
2025 — Shortlisted for the Women in Art Prize 2025, in the Paula Rego Painting Prize category
In Short
I’m an artist and art director who works in oil paint, charcoal, and instinct. My canvases are not just portraits, but conversations -between myself, the people I paint, and the unseen space we share.
New Prints Available
New Prints Available
Check out Emma Woolley’s new prints from The Wonder Series. Printed on Hahnemuhle german etching 310gsm and available at 12”x16”