About

I am Emma Rae Rhead, an artist and painter living and working in the historic city of Chester, England.

I work primarily in egg tempera on traditionally prepared wooden panels. In recent years, my practice has been strongly influenced by training in Byzantine icon painting and by the materials, methods and visual traditions I have encountered through that work. I continue to paint icons alongside a developing body of work inspired by the natural world, domestic life and the quiet beauty of everyday things.

My training in icon painting has includes study with liturgical artist Aidan Hart at The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts, as well as three years of training with professional iconographer Father Justin Venn of Studio Sanctus. I continue to attend workshops and undertake further study as my practice develops.

I work slowly and by hand, using traditional methods on wooden panel and painting in egg tempera, with natural pigments and gold leaf where appropriate. I am drawn to the luminosity, delicacy, yet robustness of these materials, and to a process that asks for close observation, humility and presence.

At the heart of my work is an invitation to pay attention: to look closely, to stay curious, to be present with what might otherwise be passed by. Whether painting an icon or something drawn from the world around me, I hope to make work that carries a sense of stillness, tenderness and presence.