Emma Garcelon/Woodnote
Painter, photographer
Emma Garcelon
Woodnote Studio
I am an artist, photographer, and e-commerce consultant for small businesses, artists, and makers. I'm based in Portland, Maine, where I live with my partner and our cat Addy. I spent much of my childhood building forts, looking for seaglass, and exploring the forests, mountains, and rocky coast of Maine. These natural landscapes serve as constant sources of inspiration in my life and art practice. When I'm not making art or running my business, you’ll find me cooking, exploring in nature, reading, and playing board games with friends.
My work is an energetic response to my surroundings, experiences, and internal emotions. I work intuitively, following my natural instincts in order to create something that is comprised of many small moments of discovery. I often start with a basic idea or guideline: a color palette, a technique to explore, a certain way of making marks. This serves as an entry point, a way to get into the process and access my creative energy.
As the seasons and phases of my life shift, the colors and techniques I use change as well. The constant that remains is the excitement I experience when I discover and study the smallest details. In life, these details might be the pattern on a moth’s wing or the way the ocean has worn the surface of a rock. In my art, they emerge as the texture created by applying gesso in a certain way or the unexpected vibration a color combination creates.
It’s these moments that inspire me to keep moving forward, to keep making art, and to keep exploring new ideas.
