Emily Dewsnap Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory member provides some fascinating insights into her practice and experience as figurative painter, as she responds to the questions below:
- How do you maintain your individuality as an artist and avoid being influenced by others in your field?
- Tell us about your earliest memories of creating art and when you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?
- How do you balance your personal life with your art career while ensuring a healthy work/life balance?
- How do experimentation and risk-taking play a role in your creative process?
How do you maintain your individuality as an artist and avoid being influenced by others in your field?
I always try to make sure that whatever I’m creating is truly what I want to be working on — it has to make me feel something. At the end of the day, it’s really about staying authentic to who I am. I do go through phases of hyperfocus on certain subjects, but it actually helps; painting similar themes again and again teaches me so much. I’ve been doing this for a long time, but I’m still learning every day.
Like most artists (whether we realize it or not), I’m influenced by others. But I’m always working on my style to make sure it’s recognizably mine. Texture plays a huge part in that. I love leaving visible brushstrokes, even when the piece is quite smooth — especially in this strange time of AI. It’s a worrying moment for artists, but it also reminds me why maintaining that human touch is so important.
Tell us about your earliest memories of creating art and when you first realized that you wanted to be an artist?
I’ve always loved creating art, even when I was a child. I still remember how people reacted so positively to the things I painted or drew — they were often a bit surprised, but their kind words really boosted my confidence. Because of that encouragement, I started exploring different mediums as I got older and just kept going. When I was 17, I took a life drawing class and after three sessions, the teacher went off on long term sick, so I took it upon myself to ask if I could teach the class. I did, but at that point, I realised that teaching is very different to painting and that I should stick to creating art, rather than trying to impart what I was learning to others. At secondary school and college, I really leaned into the art and, despite not taking GCSE art, manage to worm my way in to study art at A-level. I went through a series of styles at college and tried all kinds of media, including etchings. But my love for the versatility of acrylic never really went away.
How do you balance your personal life with your art career while ensuring a healthy work/life balance?
Balancing work and life is difficult as an artist – I’m sure that’s something you hear all the time. Even when I’m on holiday, my brain is still generating ideas and images that I want to commit to canvas. I’ve become better at not worrying that I should be working when I’m having a break – sometimes reading a really engaging book or going for a long walk in nature is the only way to blow the cobwebs away and get some space from the work. It really helps, particularly if I’m frustrated with myself. Often the answer to any problems pops into my head while I’m out walking. Or I come back to the studio and suddenly have a new lease of life.
How do experimentation and risk-taking play a role in your creative process?
A lot of my work is based in imaginative realism, so I try to make sure that I regularly create something fun and loose, just for me, to ensure that I don’t end up painting myself into a hyper-realism corner. I’m at my riskiest when I’m on a deadline, funnily enough. I’m neurodivergent (I think a lot of creatives are) so a deadline to me is like a red rag to a bull and suddenly I’ll find myself going off on a tangent – it’s when I do my best work, I think. And it’s also when I develop the most, so I wouldn’t change a thing. But it has evolved into some all-nighters.
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