Emma Howell
16 September, 2025
Let’s start off with a blunt truth: I seriously have a problem with chasing trends. It completely tears us away from our authentic selves and can fuel self-loathing if you’re trying to be someone you’re not, or creating things that don’t feel you. I do, however, tune into life patterns. My work changes with the seasons of life.. and for the last few years, I’ve seen collectors investing in and purchasing art that feels grounded, story-led, and emotionally legible. I’ve broken down some of the shifts I’m seeing and how my recent and upcoming collections put those ideas to work.
1. Colours Rooted in Nature
What I’m seeing: Earth-toned palettes: ochres, olive greens, clay pinks, soft yellows. Hues that bring calm, tactility and a sense of place into homes.
How I use it: T E R R A I N (2022) and New Terrain (2023) were built from countryside walks and gut-led mark making: thirsty-grass yellow, hedge-olive, sky-washed greys. In Sevilla (2023), I stripped things back to simple still life works to translate a city’s heat and rhythm onto paper during a seriously hard mental patch. The upcoming Motherhood Collection leans on pale hope-yellows, muted lilacs, mossy greens.. colours found on pram walks and in the small, restorative pauses of the day.
Why it matters to collectors: Nature-anchored palettes play well with real interiors (wood, linen, stone) and age gracefully.
2. Paintings Driven By Personal Stories
What I’m seeing: Abstraction that carries a clear emotional signal – a symbol, feeling, or rhythm that makes the piece relatable or cause an inner spark.
How I use it: In Soul (2024), the chair became a stand-in for presence, absence, and conversation. Rousseau’s Tale: Talking About You – selected for Sixteen Gallery’s Open Call 2025 – folds childhood memory (copying Rousseau at age seven), a recent museum encounter, and adult longing into one warm, lived-in palette.
Why it matters to collectors: Work with a readable emotional centre tends to be timeless.. it keeps offering new entry points without demanding a single “correct” interpretation.
3. Paintings with Collaborative Narratives
What I’m seeing: Collectors and audiences want to be part of the story.
How I use it: Snapshots (2023) turned 50 submitted moments from lives around the world into Polaroid-style paintings. Seeds (2023) transformed mantras from subscribers and collectors into 22 originals (+ 3 limited edition prints) – planted by you, grown by me. The in-progress Motherhood Collection (2025) is shaped by hundreds of anonymous submissions – not only from mothers, but from anyone connected to the idea of mothering: sons, daughters, partners, people longing, grieving, resisting, remembering.
Why it matters to collectors: A co-created meaning = stronger attachment. You’re not just buying a painting.. you’re collecting a lived thread of human experience.
4. Small Intimate Works Take the Spotlight
What I’m seeing: Serious collecting at smaller scales – pieces that fit real walls and real budgets without losing depth.
How I use it: Snapshots (50 small works) and the Motherhood Collection (each piece 5″ × 6″) are designed as intimate originals .. mementos you can live with daily.
Why it matters to collectors: Small works can be an ideal entry point for those beginning a collection or working with a smaller budget. They slip easily into spaces that larger canvases can’t – filling an awkward corner, becoming a hidden gem on a gallery wall, or standing alone as an intimate focal point. Smaller pieces often carry a more personal, memento-like quality too, making them feel like treasured keepsakes while still speaking the full language of the artist’s practice
5. Art That Mirrors Life
What I’m seeing: Audiences respond to artists who evolve – openly – with major life shifts.
How I use it: I am an over-sharer.. and I’m not ashamed or afraid to say it. Call me negative, glass-half empty or exhausting if you like – but it’s important for me to tell you as it is. I’m not going to sugarcoat anything or hide truths for the sake of appearing perfect and strong. From grief (The How Series, 2018–2024) to infertility (Soul, 2024) to new beginnings (Motherhood, 2025, in progress), my studio work mirrors my life. Some bodies of work arrive as sprints (50 Paintings / 50 Poems); others are slow, evolving stories (Terrain, New Terrain).
Why it matters to collectors: Growth over time means each painting, whether from years ago or just finished, carries extra context and significance for a collector.
6. Talk About the How What Why (This is a Big One)
What I’m seeing: Collectors aren’t just drawn to the finished piece.. they want to understand the how, what, and why behind it. Not as a gimmick, but as insight into the craft, choices, and lived experiences that shape the work.
How I use it: Repetition shows up in my work in many forms – counted marks, blocked breaths, or even parquet flooring painted tile by tile.. all rhythms that mirror the endurance of infertility, the humdrum of waiting, and the relentlessness of early motherhood. At the same time, big washes of colour often carry emotion: soft yellows for hope, earthy greens for grounding, or heavy rust tones for fatigue and frustration. Repetitive mark making can signal monotony, impatience, or time passing, while large erratic scribbles become outlets for anger, overwhelm, or restlessness.
The composition of a piece might echo a landscape, a room, or even a fleeting thought pattern, while still life collections often reveal my own need to slow down, anchor myself in the present, and notice small joys. On the flip side, more abstract works emerge when an emotion feels too complex or raw, so I let my hands translate it into form and texture.
Through all of this, materials remain intentional: paper, canvas, pencil, pastel, and bespoke frames that respect and preserve the work. Together, these choices build a visual language where colour, mark, and form become signposts of both my lived experiences and the universal feelings they touch.
Why it matters to collectors: Understanding the how, what, and why behind a piece gives collectors confidence in its care, thoughtfulness, and durability.. the qualities that make an artwork worth living with and cherishing over time.
How I’m implementing all of these ideas in the studio right now
- Palette notebooks: swatches from daily walks (thirsty-grass yellow, moss-green, pavement-grey, that nameless lilac bloom).
- Mark making process: repeated lines for longing, stacked strokes for “trying again,” soft washes for breath, huge scribbles for frustration, coiled pencil for a journey
- Size with intention: intimate 5″ × 6″ originals for Motherhood to encourage a circle of collectors who should never feel alone
- Community in the work: submissions from other humans continue to guide compositions, titles and tone.
- Seasonal honesty: my work changes with the seasons of life – and that’s the point. I’ll never apologise for “letting it all hang out”.
Where to start (if you’re collecting)
- Discover nature-rooted palettes: T E R R A I N (2022), New Terrain (2023).
- Explore story-forward abstraction: Soul (2024) and the chair series, including Rousseau’s Tale: Talking About You.
- Collect community-sourced pieces: Snapshots (2023), Seeds (2023).
- See the evolution: The How Series (2018–2024) to Soul (2024) to Motherhood (2025, in progress).
- Curated availability: Artist Selected Works brings together significant pieces from 2018–2024.