Artist Spotlight - Emily Finch

Painting, drawing and creating has always been a part of me for as long as I can remember. I was born with a hip condition that meant long stretches in hospital all my life, and not being able to run or get about anywhere really quickly. So I guess during my life, I’ve been forced to stop and really look at things. This naturally led to a drawing and painting practice that I’ve come to rely on for my mental health - a form of meditation, really.

For me, trees are important because they were instrumental in helping me recover from some quite severe PTSD after multiple miscarriages during COVID lockdowns. For a while I was suffering with flashbacks every time I looked up to the sky, but one day I worked out that if I lay under a tree, I could look at the sky without physically moving my head up.

This helped me breathe deeply and see colour again after an awfully long time. The most important thing that has helped me, is the understanding that trees are ever present but yet ever changing with the seasons - that whatever is happening in life now is not permanent, but rather a phase, just like a season.

Frida Kahlo, Tracey Emin, David Hockney, Laura Rich, Tim J Fowler and Katherine Le Hardy.