Some paintings only reveal their importance once you've stepped away from them. Looking back, I realise that No Words became a quiet turning point in my practice, bridging the space between the Totems and the self portraits that followed.

Every so often, in the middle of a body of work, I find myself painting a self-portrait. Only recently have I started to understand why.

A personal reflection on Inner Worlds, the collaborative exhibition with Tara Harris, and the journey behind Totemica. Looking back on the exhibition, the artist talk, the immersive live performance with Cries from the LTN, and what the work taught me about painting, collaboration and finding my voice.

The response to Inner Worlds at Seventh Circle has been overwhelming. A look back at the Private View, the support from visitors, and the conversations sparked by the exhibition from artists Emma Woolley and Tara Harris.

A new collaborative exhibition by Emma Woolley and Tara Harris at Seventh Circle, exploring emotion, memory and shifting psychological states through painting. Featuring new works, a printed exhibition catalogue and an accompanying essay by Ruth Millington.

Drawn from voice memos recorded in the studio while painting Once More, this reflection traces Emma Woolley’s encounter with Don Quixote, exploring imagination, resilience, and the strange moment a fictional character becomes part of your world.

In spring 2026, I’ll be exhibiting in Tilting at Windmills, a group show responding to Cervantes’ Don Quixote. This piece explores psychological tension, repetition, and the fragile space between belief and reality, extending the emotional weight that runs through my current body of work.

Based in Birmingham, Emma Woolley’s portrait practice focuses on intimacy, connection, and emotional closeness. Her work centres the human face, using painting as a way to explore presence, vulnerability, and lived experience.

I’ve been quiet for a while. Time away, travel, life, and a reset. Coming back into 2026, I’m stepping back into the studio and sharing two deeply personal works in the RENAISSANCE Open Call at Seventh Circle.

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A year of sixteen paintings, each one part of a long process of reconnection. This reflection looks back at the work, the shifts, the instinct, and the quiet ways painting brought me back to myself in 2025.

A painting I once thought was unfinished has revealed itself as something else entirely. The Space Between Us #03 holds a ghost in the paint, a moment of transition, and a quiet truth I was not ready to see at the time. This piece shows the space before connection, the breath between one version of myself and the next.

A behind the scenes look at my Creative Nowhere Land podcast with Matt Wilson, where we ended up talking about far more than painting. It goes deeper than I expected.

Painted during Birmingham Open Studios at • nook •, this portrait of Tara explores honesty, friendship and the quiet space between two artists. Earthy, organic and unforced, it’s a painting born from connection - a tête-à-tête in paint.

A spontaneous portrait that began during a live demo at • nook • gallery. This is the story of how a chance meeting with fellow artist Russ Sargeant led to a painting that became an act of unearthing, collaboration, and quiet connection.

Paint Lingers brings together nineteen works from the past two years - from The Wonder Series to The Space Between Us and the Impromptu paintings. More than a collection, it’s a time capsule: a way to gather threads, reflect on the journey, and let the paint linger.

This portrait of my friend and fellow artist Sam Weeks was painted live at • nook • gallery as part of my Impromptu series. More than a likeness, it celebrates our friendship, the colours she carries with her, and the joy of finding my creative tribe here in Kings Heath.

Join me at • nook • gallery & studios for Birmingham Open Studios 2025. Four dates in Kings Heath with new portrait work on show and live painting demos both weekends.

Featured in Arts to Hearts Project’s 5 Oil Painters Who Remind Us Why This Medium Will Never Fade, I reflect on why oil painting remains at the heart of my practice - a medium of history, intimacy, and connection that continues to keep stories alive.

A spontaneous portrait of Gosia Weber, co-founder of • nook • gallery, painted live during Meet the Maker and finished in the early hours of the morning. This Studio Journal entry captures the full whirlwind story behind the painting from Parma Violets to wet paint warnings and celebrates creative community, colour, and connection.

On a Friday night in August, I set out with no plan, just a need to paint. What began as a quick self-portrait reference under a swung-around daylight lamp became Drift: a bold, instinctive work mixing greens and violets, painted in one sitting. It’s a piece about switching off, finding flow, and letting the painting lead.