emily patrick

[Rosehips and White Tulips (2011) Emily Patrick]

If I could buy a painting by a living artist, I'd buy one by Emily Patrick. I've known about her for years, have seen her work at one of her exhibitions, have several catalogues of her work and postcards, and I included one of her paintings in The Gentle Art of Domesticity, but alas I don't have a real painting. I did however happen to come across her last summer while she was painting in the middle of a beautiful meadow which wasn't such a surprise given that she paints wonderful landscapes.

[Book Bowl Tulips and Feathers (2012) Emily Patrick]

She also paints all the sorts of things I love: flowers (many tulips), plants, books, china and jugs, fruits and vegetables, domestic scenes and gardens, snatches of everyday life, tables covered in cotton reels, paperbacks, postcards and bowls, none of which are perfectly set out or regimented or stiff or tidy.

[Anemones and Blue Wall (2010) Emily Patrick]

Instead, there's a tremendous naturalness and an incredibly light touch. The colours are fresh and pure - the oranges, aquas, turquoises, greens, pinks and magentas are particularly wonderful.

Emily has a comprehensive website which makes for great browsing; you can look at all the prints of the paintings that feature the same yellow jug or all the variations on the theme of interior. I know this because I've spent far too much time doing exactly that.