Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Brand.
Emma, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was immediately catapulted into life here in Boston. Right after I graduated from college, I picked up my bags and moved, knowing no one beyond the lovely family that housed me. I had no job and very little direction. Every day I count my blessings, grateful to have been granted the incredible opportunities that I have been presented with:
Being able to stay with people while I found a job, blessed that my two best friends decided to move to Boston so we could find an affordable apartment together (with the help of an amazing broker: un-sponsored plug for YK Realty), being granted the amazing opportunity to work under Dr. Rudolph Tanzi studying Alzheimer’s disease and all the amazing people I learned from and met there. I have gradually come to see Boston as my home, and through all these incredible experiences, I have been able to do what I have always wanted to do — studying science and having time to make my art.
Has it been a smooth road?
It was definitely not a smooth road. I’ve had to go through a lot of hard lessons in the last year. Trying to find myself while simultaneously figuring out how to be an adult. But I’ve learned that most adults never actually got it figured out. People are always continuing to learn about themselves and ask themselves who they are. What I’ve now come to understand is that it is more important to forgive yourself and allow yourself the freedom to make mistakes. But, also to recognize that others make mistakes too. The world is incredibly complicated and it is easy to think of things in boxes. Or label someone based on a snap judgement. Those kinds of things feel simple. And it doesn’t matter how hard you try to not do those things to others, others will not do it for you. So learning how to deal with people who do not believe in you is difficult. I’m still in that process. It is not easy to remain open because it can be rather exhausting. But remaining open to opportunities and to people has graced me with all the beauty I have in my life now. I have no idea what is coming, but I can feel that it will all be good.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Emma Br& Art – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Well I believe I was nominated for this for the range of things I do. I work at MGH doing research, just recently got my real estate license, and I also run my own art business through Instagram: @e.mma.br. I sell my watercolor and pen drawings. They are currently in California, lots in Maryland (where I’m originally from), New York, Boston, DC, and I have commissions currently that will send some pieces to Texas, and North Carolina. So I’m pretty proud of myself. But shout out to Instagram because the platform has really helped me succeed. I’ve also gotten requests for album covers and working with some incredible artists on poetry etc. It’s going to be a really fun experience.
My drawings are mixture of blind contour technique and just contouring. So this means I don’t remove my pen from the page. Originally I learned this in high school as a way to train the eye. And I have never forgotten the advice my teacher at the time, Ms. Bram, gave me, “it is not what you think it is, and it is what you see.” Meaning, that if you are trying to draw a chair, you know empirically it has four legs and a seat and back. But what you see is one leg that is longer due to foreshadowing, and you see the hook in the arm of the chair etc. You have to really look at the shapes in the world, pick the pieces apart, or you won’t be able to really get the whole picture.
So that was a tangent. But it’s something I think about a lot, and doing the contour drawings helps me incorporate that idea into my daily life. I think the style really aides in some of my more feminist paintings–where I try and include as many different kinds of people as possible. Everyone is beautiful. And it goes back to the boxes. I’m just trying to see people for all the aspects that create them, not just who I think that they are.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love Boston. All my life I thought I would move to NYC–but you can say that I’m a fully converted Bostonian now. I love the greenery and the ability to see the sky. The air still feels polluted on my way to work sometimes, and the winters are not fun in the slightest. But it is a beautiful city and I’m happy to have found my place here.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e.mma.br/
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