NL·Drawn To It

A house is not just a home. For this artist, houses inspire her vibrant art

In our second installment of Drawn To It, take a step inside Emily Pittman's studio and see how home plays a role in her art.

Meet an abstract artist with a deep connection to home.

Meet an abstract N.L. artist who loves to paint houses

5 years ago
Duration 2:45
Emily Pittman explores the idea of home through her colourful paintings and collages.

Emily Pittman's studio is bright and welcoming — characteristics which are also evident in her colourful, vibrant paintings. 

"The colours that I work with are the colours that I see around me. Especially in our home of Newfoundland, there's colour in everything," said Pittman.

"I love colours that give you energy." 

Pittman grew up in Clarenville and now lives in St. John's. She primarily creates abstract paintings and collages of houses. 

"I love to paint houses because they just are such a part of how we see ourselves. They're so ingrained with our identity," she said.

"Where we live, where we grew up, all of the houses that we associate with our memories. They're just so tied to this idea of home," she said. 

Pittman's distinctive work has been exhibited at venues such as The Rooms, Eastern Edge Gallery and the Boarding House Gallery in Guelph. In addition to creating art, she's an instructor for the art and design essentials program at the College of the North Atlantic.

"I love teaching art because it's the chance for people to express themselves. If you give someone the tools to create, it just gives them so much joy," said Pittman. 

Meet Pittman and hear about her artistic process in our new series, Drawn To It, in the video player above. 

Videographer and editor: Mike Simms

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katie Rowe

Producer

Katie Rowe is a creative content producer with CBC on the East Coast. katie.rowe@cbc.ca