Emma Mount of Emma Mount Art
October 05, 2009 | By
I really adore Emma's work. My two great loves in life are pin-up and yarn. Emma's work fits into the former category. It's sexy, colorful, and modern, while still keeping with classic pin-up themes. After talking to her a few times and reading her interview I can tell you that I like Emma as much as her work. She has a love and passion for life that squelches the pretentiousness that some artists develop. She loves to paint, but she also loves to play with stamps and paper! Her shop is so much fun to flip through and her website is stunning. If you flip through the work of Emma Mount you will find that there is something fun for everyone and maybe something beautiful for yourself!
1. Tell me about yourself?
a. Name
Emma Mount
b. Business Name
Emma Mount
c. Location
Dorset, UK
d. Interesting personal factoids
I have a huge sweet tooth, I read a lot of books, and I love films that give you goosebumps. My favorite holiday was a road trip from New Orleans down to Miami, and I think there’s nothing better than a pint of Guinness in a cozy pub on a cold winter’s day.
2. Tell me about your craft/mediums.
My big love is painting. I paint in oil on canvas.
Since opening my Etsy shop and getting inspired by other crafters I’ve also been branching out into rubber a stamping/embossing card (which is a load of fun).
3. Why do you love about your particular mediums?
I like the traditional nature of oil paint on canvas. I like getting my hands dirty, the smell, and the mess of the paint. I like that the end result on the wall is something that someone literally made with their bare hands.
4. Who are your influences?
That’s hard to narrow down, but with my teens being in the 80’s I grew up influenced by very creative unique individuals such as Debbie Harry, Kate Bush, David Bowie, the extreme glamour of the New Romantics, my mum’s fashion mags, and the pure theatre of 80s pop videos like Duran Duran and Adam Ant. I would have to name check a lot of artists who inspire me today Lisa Petrucci, Mark Ryden, Matthew Bone, Sunny Buick, Laura Brink, Natalia Fabia, Ava Creat, David Macdowell, Jared Joslin, Kirstin Easthope,Tim Hooper, Glenn Arthur, Leith O’Malley, and my husband! There are so many. My artist friends Laura and Tara talk painting a lot and inspire each other daily.
5. What is your favorite material to work with?
Definitely oils on canvas.
6. What inspires you and reflects itself in your work?
I’m inspired by so much; books, music, and our holidays. I love flea market finds and always watch out for and am particularly inspired by any of the following: pin-ups, funfairs, side-show banner art, day of the dead, Mexicana, Halloween, tiki, skeletons, flamingos, sailor jerry tattoos, religious imagery, burlesque, the 50s, the 80s, make-up, music, New Orleans, haunted houses, leopard print, palm trees, circus, cemeteries, fairytales. We have a little bit of all of that in our home collected from different places over the years and, hopefully, all these things will weave their way into my work at some point, if they haven’t already.
7. Tell me about your most enjoyable experience with a customer.
Probably the customers who have since become friends. They may be ‘virtual’ friends right now, as they’re on the other side of the Atlantic, but if I was ever on holiday in the US there would certainly be some really great people I now write to regularly who I would love to have a beer with.
8. Where can we find your work? (both online and off)
www.emmamountart.com is my website and http://emmamount.etsy.com is my Etsy shop where I put any originals that aren’t currently in shows, as well as prints and cards.
A lot of my paintings go out to group shows in the US and Canada. I list them on my website ‘bio&shows’ page.
9. Any advice to new or young sellers just getting their feet wet?
I still feel like I’m just getting my feet wet! The internet has been an amazing tool, but so far I feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface. I have, however, never sold as many paintings until I got a website and also posted my art on sites such as Flickr, Etsy, Facebook, Myspace, and DeviantArt.com. Post your art everywhere is my tip!! Posting just opens you up to a worldwide audience. Deviantart.com has proved to be an amazing place to post my paintings and get feedback from other artists, both good and bad, always useful, and I have met a lot of people in there that I have tapped for plenty of advice over the years.
10. What do you do outside of your business? (Can be your career or other types of hobbies)
My career was designing shop displays for a big cosmetics company, which I did for many years while living in London. I have since moved to the coast and am currently a stay at home mum. I have never had the opportunity to paint so much as now, and unless I’m out I paint every night of the week. Once the kids are both at school full time, I would like to build to painting full time; that would be my dream.
With painting being such an obsession there is little time for other hobbies. I love reading, I love a Guinness down the pub, I love day trips to London (its streets/markets/galleries/museums,) and I like road trips and general exploring. On returning from my excursions I bring back quirky flea market finds for the house. I wish I could sew and make clothes, that is kind of a regret, but I would need 36 hour days to fit that in too!
11. What does the "handmade movement" mean to you?
I think if you purchase handmade you are buying someone’s vision, someone’s dream, the item they make is handmade with love, and is as unique as a snowflake.
12. If you could have lunch with and pick the brain of any artist living or dead, who would you choose and why?
It would be an artist of a different sort; Quentin Tarantino. I find him endlessly fascinating when I’ve seen him interviewed. He has such a clear vision of what he’s doing, while also being an amazing fount of pop culture knowledge. I also think he’s very funny and incredibly creative. I have no idea what I’d ask him, I would probably be too shy to talk! Of actual artists Lisa Petrucci, Shaunna Peterson, Megan Besmirched & Kirsten Easthope all seem like fun girls whose art I adore. We could have a great girl’s night out!
All photos coutesy of Emma Mount
Grad Student, knitter, and owner of Sugar Plum Ferret Knits: http://sugarplumferret.etsy.com & http://sugarplumferret.artfire.com
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