Her lifelong delights in nature, color, pattern and fantasy inspire the art of Emily Fotis.

Even as a child, Emily knew she wanted to be an artist. In 1999, at age 16, Emily moved with her family from Columbus, Ohio, to Fairfield, Iowa, and became absorbed in Fairfield’s lively arts scene. While seeking her artistic niche, she studied with a master calligrapher to develop fine line quality, and was soon illustrating posters for local events.

Captivated by the naiveté, innocence and spontaneity of folk art through the ages, Emily tried her hand – and found her perfect match. At 18, she began painting her early folk art pieces on antique papers, using watercolors made from natural pigment stones she collected from local creekbeds, and inks made from lampblack and walnut shells. She was invited to display her work at some of Fairfield’s many galleries and shops, seasonal art fairs and holiday shows, where she also sold prints, cards and stationery drawn from her paintings.

In the summer of 2003, Emily was invited to mount her first solo-artist exhibition as part of “Art Walk,” the festive Fairfield gallery-hop held on the first Friday of every month. The ensuing five-week frenzy of preparation proved fruitful, as her event was flooded with enthusiastic visitors who declared hers The Best of Show.
(read the story of opening night)

That show began to change the direction of Emily’s career. Emily had set up a painting table where guests could learn to make paint from pigment stones, and provided sepia outlines of her paintings for the students to paint. This activity proved so popular that the idea was born for a coloring book. In December, 2004, Adagio Press in Fairfield published Emily’s American Fraktur Paint-and-Color Book.

Emily’s work began to attract attention outside of Fairfield, leading to gallery exhibitions in other towns. Her line of 18 frameable greeting cards, launched in 2006 as Inkstone Arts Fine Art Frameables, garnered the attention of local mentors who urged her to start a company. Emily put together a 5-year prospectus for Inkstone Arts, which attracted potential investors. But the limitations of production and marketing, and the increasing demands on her time, led her to realize that, for now, at least, she just wanted to create art.

She decided to pursue art licensing, which led her to visit the annual Surtex art licensing exhibition in New York City, in 2009. She will exhibit her work there in 2010.

Emily works in watercolors, oils, gouache, ink, pencils and markers. She has also created paintings done entirely in blended polymer clays. Her art is imaginative and vibrant, characterized by harmonious color and expressive line, often intricate in design. Her paintings contain motifs such as birds and other animals, flowers and geometric forms. They range from primitive to refined, from vivid to ethereal – each unique and charming, and each somehow infused with a life and personality of its own.

Response to Emily’s art has been extraordinary. Viewers young and old, connoisseur and novice, express a remarkably unanimous emotional reaction to her work. Whether they describe the effect as joyful, magical, peaceful, delightful, or inspiring – simply stated, Emily’s art makes people happy.

Artist's Statement >