About the Artist

Hello! I’m Emily (A.K.A. Emi).

About the Artist #

I’ve always been an artist, thought my path to be one professionally has felt very untraditional.

As a kid, I wanted to be an animator. I was obsessed with Disney (still am) and felt the draw towards art. So I drew Mickey Mouse, Goofy, princesses, and also friends and family. Once Pokemon came out, I became obsessed with that, too, and then I was drawing myself and others as trainers, creating my own poket monsters, and delving even further into animation and illustration. In high school, the only options for art were fine art or technical drawing. I took all those classes, but my teachers could not teach me about illustration. I went to a technical school for advertising art, which helped a little, but it still could not satisfy the type of art I wanted to create.

So in college I switched gears. I studied Japanese language and made friends who also loved anime and liked my little charactatures. I practiced drawing comics, doodled in margins to keep the stress away, and started writing. After college I lived in Japan, teaching English in kindergartens and elementary schools for several years and discovered a new passion; education.

I got my Master’s in Early Childhood Education and spent ten years teaching kindergarten and pre-k. I worked through the COVID pandemic. Throughout it all, I kept drawing. I drew characters and animals for the kids I taught, and I doodled through meetings. I liked being a teacher, but the world changed and my mental health needed a break.

When I decided to leave the classroom, there was only one thing I wanted to do; art. So here I am. I’ve studied, I’ve learned, and I’ve grown both in skill and in style. I went back to the art I liked to make in high school. I’ve pushed myself to evolve and create artwork that brings me joy, and hopefully, joy to others. I still have not learned to animate, but perhaps that day will come.