Emma Grzonkowski was brought up in a beautiful part of Cheshire where she spent hours endlessly lost in her own playful imagination, drawing and painting from ‘as young as she can remember being able to hold a pencil ’ Emma states. It was clear to Emma’s mother and father that she had a natural talent for art and it was something which was part of her ‘being’ and this need for her to create was always within her. They encouraged her to harness this love for art and her father, in particular, played a pivotal role, being creative himself encouraging Emma to thrive with her noticeably creative talents. Steven Grzonkowski, would often spend hours drawing pictures himself for Emma to copy. To which she would stick these drawings on her bedroom wall and would practice her own versions of them relentlessly until she got it just right. Emma continued to express her love for art through primary school and into secondary school and throughout it was clear to her teachers and her peers that she excelled in this field. So much so that in the subjects which she didn't particularly like such as Maths and Science she would spend the time in class drawing on the front of her exercise books instead.
‘I used to find myself doodling in my class books without me even realising and before I knew it I was being asked a question and I had no idea what was going on’ Emma completed secondary school with the highest grade possible for Art and then went on to pursue Art and Design at Sir John Deans College. She undertook Theatre Studies, Media Studies and GCSE Maths (since she had spent so much time doodling in her lessons!). It was clear at this stage that even though Emma was interested in these subjects, as they mostly had a creative element to them, that she was still entirely focussed on art. She soon started to skip lessons to spend most of her time in the art room. This time at college was pivotal for Emma for a few reasons. Her teacher Andy Marshall was an excellent teacher and from his teachings, she learnt the fundamental rules to construct a painting. She was taught various techniques which allowed her to grow as a young artist with knowledge from studying the Great Masters of art such as Francis Bacon and Rembrandt among others. Throughout this time she also fell head over heels in love which led her to experience a few years in absolute bliss. Once finishing College, with an A* in Art she went on to study Fine Art and Graphic Design at The University of Chester. Through the first year of university, Emma felt quite uneasy being left to her own devices since she had such intensive tuition throughout College. Within the second year at university disaster struck when tragically she lost her boyfriend in a car accident. In absolute devastation, Emma turned to the only thing she felt would help to take away the pain, which was painting. She found her self putting all of her emotions into her artwork as a form of release and she would spend endless hours in the studio pouring her soul onto the canvas. From this terrible tragedy, she had now found her expressive style which she still uses today. She started to use herself within her work, painting self-portraits, which were often very raw and dark and which ran in parallel to her emotions.
Determined to finish her degree and to make her late boyfriend proud, Emma ploughed on and created a body of work which was uniquely soulful and authentic. It was at this time that she decided that she wanted to be a professional artist, which was the defining moment of things to follow.Soon after this moment, Emma walked into Castle Fine Art in Chester and she showed the gallery her work. The Gallery Manager soon took an interest and then presented her artwork to the owners of Washington Green Fine Art. To Emma’s amazement, in no matter of time, she was stood in front of her work talking to Glyn Washington the ‘Washington’ of Washington Green. He saw Emma’s passion for art and instantly connected, although realised that it was still very raw and in need of development. She went on to sign a pre-a
