EMMA DUNBAR & FIONA MILLAIS

The paintings of Emma Dunbar and Fiona Millais share a common focus on coastlines and the natural landscape, with an interest in the everyday elements encountered in these places.

Emma Dunbar, Quiet Afternoon Harbour, 76cm x 46cm, acrylic on board, £1995

Emma Dunbar’s paintings aim to capture the essence of a place or scene. She is attracted to vivid colours and the decorative qualities in everyday objects, which she rearranges on the canvas to create a collaged aesthetic.  Birds, shells, flowers or fish which are often placed alongside painted depictions of the true landmarks. Her paintings are therefore more about conjuring an atmosphere of a place or situation, rather than literal transcriptions of the exact features of a location.

 

Emma Dunbar, Wild Summer Newquay, 91 x 61cm, acrylic on board,  £2950

She works mainly on board in acrylic, occasionally incorporating collage with gold and silver leaf. Many of her works reference traditional subject matter, such as the still life, with arrangements of flowers, jugs and fruit. 

Emma Dunbar, Rosey Curtains and Chickens
61 x 61cm, acrylic & mixed media on board, £1600

Her vivid pallete and charactered style make these compositions feel very contemporary and uplifting. She draws inspiration from the work of favourite artists, including Mary Fedden, Milton Avery and Daphne McClure. 

Born in England in 1961, she graduated in 1984 with a BA (hons) in Fine Art Printmaking from West Surrey College of Art and Design. Since then she has worked full time as an artist and exhibited throughout the UK. Her paintings have been internationally reproduced as greetings cards, posters, limited edition etchings and even fabric designs.

Fiona Millais’ paintings are a representation of her memories of the places which inspire her. She grew up surrounded by the heather of the Surrey Hills and exploring the wild West Coasts of Scotland and Cornwall. Her memories of these places now inspire much of her work. Her paintings are often a response to her memories of landscapes and coasts.

 

Fiona Millais, These Days of Rain, 77 x 92cm, acrylic on canvas, £2995

She often works in layers of paint, leaving traces of earlier ideas visible, with layers of texture and colour suggesting interwoven history. Her paintings reflect her interest in the natural rhythms of the land and how it comes to show a human presence. These many layers within Fiona’s work reflect these ideas of man's impact on the landscape and how our actions leave marks which echo through time.

Fiona Millais, Bothy, acrylic on canvas, 51 x 51cm, £895

Fiona Millais studied Fine Art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, graduating in 1984. Her great-grandfather was the Pre-Raphaelite painter, Sir John Everett Millais.