Emily Ingrey-Counter

My desire is to create fresh and energetic drawings of the natural world through direct and immediate mark making. Both sensitive and visceral, I want my drawings to capture fleeting moments and experiences in nature. I mostly work outside, focussing on the things that capture my attention within the landscape and the wildlife that inhabits it. I believe that spending time in the outdoors refreshes and energises us and its the memory of that which I want to stir within the viewer.

This current body of work is a celebration of trees, of their beauty and magnificence within the natural world. My aim is to communicate the joy, energy and expansiveness I feel when I am outdoors, surrounded by nature and in the woodlands near my home.

My work begins with many drawings made from life which I constantly refer to throughout my process. These are translated into paintings, made on a heavily prepared surface of mark and colour, which is later revealed in surprising and unexpected ways between the layers of paint. Through the use of spontaneous marks and and colourful textures I aim to reflect the wild and untamed complexities in nature and capture for the viewer the essence of being in among the trees and their ever changing, evolving life.