Emily Russell was born 1985 and currently lives and works in North Oxfordshire. Her love of horses started as a child growing up riding the ponies which were kept on the family cattle farm. Her interest in racing started from annual outings to the Grafton Point to Point racing at Mollington and it was only a matter of time before horse racing became her all consuming passion. Emily studied Art at A Level and later went on to Oxfordshire College of Art & Design to study on an Art Foundation course but chose not to continue with her education within Art, finding herself enjoying painting much more via a self taught route. Her passions marry together within her work which is predominantly of racehorses. Working in Acrylic and Oils she aims to capture the action and emotion evoked by the sport, within her contemporary style. Although some brushwork is used, Emily preferes to paint with her hands to feel out the familiar shapes of her subject and uses a varity of objects to paint with such as leaves, straw and sticks to add texture and effect. Her main inspiration is taken from the "sounds, smells and sights on racecourses, along with the electricity in the air, especially during the build up to a big race, and the emotion that is created by the fairytale endings that seem to occur time and time again within the racing world". 

Influences & Admiration :  Christine Comyn, Donald Hamilton-Fraser, Sir Alfred Munnings, Sarah Larnach, Shawn Barber, Jackson Pollock, David Dent.

Emily currently works relief milking on dairy farms but when not milking cows, is found painting in her studio in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Please email: mail@emilyrussellart.com for enquiries (Commissions available),