Mornington artist/designer Emma Morgan loves to ramble in her drawings – to see where the pen takes her. It’s not always the destination she imagined but, more often than not, she loves where she lands. This approach keeps her art fresh and interesting.
While Emma has created flora and fauna fine art for over ten years, her style is always evolving as is her line of products. While she still makes stunning art prints, her beautiful designs are now transferred onto cards, wrapping paper, tea towels, tables runners and gorgeous throw pillows.
Art has always been a part of Emma’s life. She first started drawing in kinder; in fact, she’d arrive in an art smock ready to paint. By the time she was in high school, drawing was a constant companion. She was fortunate to have a really encouraging art teacher because Emma is the only artist in her family.
She went to Monash University to study Visual Arts receiving a degree in Fine Art. Emma then completed a Certificate IV in Interior Design at RMIT as a fall back. This is where she fell in love with textiles. She loved printing on fabric. At the same time, Emma started drawing animals in pen and ink developing the precise and meticulous style that exemplifies her work.
A friend suggested that Emma should apply for an exhibition at Red Gallery in Fitzroy. This first solo exhibition was a such a success that Emma realized art, not interior design, was her true calling. She has had her own art studio since she was 22. From the time she first started creating, her ethos has always been focused on locally sourced materials. Everything in her line is Melbourne made.
While she still enjoys drawing animals, in 2019, she shifted focus after visiting the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show. She was struck by the Peninsula Wildflower display. “I’ve always been fascinated by Aussie flowers; their texture, form and grotesqueness are so interesting to see and capture as an artist,” she says.
Emma wrote to Peninsula Wildflower to ask if she could visit their garden to see those magnificent flowers. Once there, Emma asked if there were any jobs available. They took her on and trained her as a florist. She has worked there on and off for six years. “It’s just delightful. I get to see the growth cycle of the flowers, learn their names and colours and I get to forage for things,” she says.
I have an intimate knowledge of my subject. My art and floristry work beautifully together
“I’m still playing, learning, seeing how far I can push the medium, how much I can include in a work and how I can compose things. My floristry has been informed by my fine art practice with my knowledge of composition, form, texture, depth and colour theory. But now my floristry informs my painting. When I paint, I’m thinking of how I would make that as a floral arrangement. I have an intimate knowledge of my subject. My art and floristry work beautifully together,” she says.
It’s not surprising that Emma is drawn to flowers. Her mother loved cottage gardens and would often take young Emma to visit them. The family moved from England when Emma was just a toddler, but the English countryside and cottage gardens had already made an indelible impression. On visits to family in England, gardens were often on the itinerary. When her family relocated to Mornington, Emma was fascinated by very different kinds of flowers.
Emma also enjoys sewing and making beautiful interior spaces. “I want to make joyful, playful things,” she says. Emma was very uplifted during lockdowns when people wrote to her saying how much they loved her work and that it gave them hope and joy. In winter, when days get darker and shorter, Emma conducts wildflower drawing workshops, bringing her signature colour, joy and a bit of light to the darkness.
With all of her experience, Emma doesn’t really need to plan her work now. She just likes to see where the piece goes. One of the greatest gifts of being a creative person is that the journey is as important as the destination and that’s a whole other kind of the joy.
Being in nature on the Mornington Peninsula provides endless inspiration. The sheer variety of flora and fauna is incredible. Nature has always informed her art. Some of her drawings have a little story behind them, but mostly it’s a colour or texture that sets her off. She uses both live and photographic references for her work.
If she had one wish for the future, it would be that people have more consideration for the natural world. If people contemplated that all living things are sentient, like us, they might treat them more thoughtfully. Meanwhile, Emma will keep highlighting the beauty of nature all around us.
IG: @emmma.morgan
emmamorgan.com.au