Q&A WITH EMILY SNOWDON Can you remember when you first decided you wanted to become an artist? How did you go about it?
What is your favourite medium to work with and why?
My favourite medium is definitely acrylic. I don’t have the patience (or the space) for oil. My favourite acrylic is the Matisse Flow paints, similar to a watercolour in movement but with the ability to layer and create texture.
How did you discover your passion for still life, and particularly for painting book stacks?
By accident really! I was super focussed on body portraiture and then pet portraits in the beginning. It was only when I was trying out some new acrylics that I used a tables ape reference and realised how much I enjoyed playing with the colour of food! That eventually transferred into painting my favourite books in stacks (again lots of colour). I loved how personal the book and food paintings felt.
Do you remember your favourite book as a child?
Like a lot of people I loved the Harry Potter books. I also loved His Dark Materials. Fantasy really drew me in as a child!
You juggle your work as an artist with a career as a hospital social worker. What do your days look like?
Busy! Generally I work 8am to 4.30pm as a social worker in rehab, get home around 5pm and pack orders from the week. Weekends are reserved for working on paintings. It’s not at all sustainable but I have a great team (husband, family and besties) supporting me.
Do you ever combine the two, for example art therapy?
I definitely enjoy bringing art into my social work when appropriate or the opportunity comes up, but I'm definitely not an art therapist! I’d love to study the Masters of Art Therapy one day and get my registration though, or maybe even do a PhD – but I think if I tried to do more right now I’d probably explode!
Was there a particular opportunity or commission that you see as a turning point in your career as an artist?
There have definitely been some amazing opportunities in the last 12 months! I’d say my collab with the Basic Bitch BookClub was where this work started to really ramp up. I’ve also just finished a collab with Amazon Prime Video which will be posted soon (head to @emily.snowdon.artist on Instagram for updates). My biggest project (and the one I'm most proud of) I'm working on now! I can’t reveal it yet but I can say it’s book related so watch this space!
Do you have a favourite piece or project you have worked on?
My favourites are often whatever I'm working on at the time! But I really love my piece ‘Popular’ featuring popular Penguin books. It’s the only original I have refused to sell so far. Most memorable is definitely a mini painting I did of an oyster! It ended up being sold to a girl who grew up on an oyster farm and I just love that it found a good home.
Do you work on multiple projects at once or do you like to focus on one at a time?
Definitely multiple! I can’t wait for paint to dry so I always move onto something else in the meantime.
What’s still on your creative bucket list?
So many things! A cook book stack, Greek mythology stack, banned books stack and romance stack are probably next on my list!
Follow @emily.snowdon.artist on Instagram for updates or visit emilysnowdonartist.com
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