Emma Hirst (b. 1988) is a representational oil painter based out of Oakland, CA where she was born and raised. Emma has always had a passion for drawing and painting, and has been drawn towards realism since the beginning of her career. Having a mother who is a full time artist, Emma was fortunate enough to have an endless resource of art supplies and support towards her artistic endeavors. After being introduced to the work of Anthony Waichulis through John Pence Gallery, she began a journey studying under him in 2006 as just an eager teenager, eventually completing the rigorous "Language of Drawing" and "Language of Painting" programs in 2015 by working as a full time apprentice. Emma continues to work realistically and draws significant inspiration from nature and natural light. She enjoys putting together unique and complex still life compositions, often incorporating elements of geometry, using natural forms. Some of her still life work features negative space as a primary element of the composition, while other pieces eliminate negative space all together in order to focus solely on the details of the subject. Emma’s work has started to branch out into landscape and portrait pieces, but they remain detailed and strongly focused on composition and the natural world. Second only to her passion for drawing and painting, Emma possesses an avid love for teaching and speaking about art and art education. She holds a desire, and feels a responsibility, to share her knowledge of technical skill building and two dimensional representation. Emma began her teaching endeavors in 2016 as a substitute teacher over the course of 5 weeks at Ani Art Academy Anguilla, and has gone on to develop workshops and educate students through online mentorship.