Looking for Art Classes in Glasgow West End? Artist Emma Cunningham takes us into her Woodlands world of light, colour and calm.
It’s a decidedly miserable Thursday afternoon when the Westender team find themselves outside a stunning victorian tenement in Woodlands. We are here to speak to Emma Cunningham, founder of Emma’s Studio, an art studio set within this beautiful sandstone building.
The Studio
All tenement stairwells rise up with the promise of what’s to come when you reach your designated floor. And Emma’s studio doesn’t disappoint. Her second floor vantage point ensures light floods in on her creative corner from enormous windows on two sides of the room. If one imagines an art studio, this would be it. But with the light in this glorious space, there’s a warmness, a welcoming place, with sofa space, a hot cuppa and most importantly, Prince the studio cat.
Taking in the studio’s atmosphere allows time to speak to Emma, before we start, as I am here to take one of Emma’s classes. A graduate of St Andrews University, Emma has lived and worked in London, Edinburgh, New York and now Glasgow. Emma says ‘I first came to Scotland to visit my Grandma during summers.’ She gestures to a glorious canvas of two young children playing joyfully beside a loch, the Scottish countryside as a backdrop. ‘That’s my sister and I in the loch beside her house’. Emma’s talent is obvious; the giggles of the girls in the painting vibrantly fill the room.
The Journey to Glasgow
Her love for Scotland led London-bred Emma to study History of Art at St Andrews University. Having lived in Edinburgh for a year, she headed across the Atlantic to New York. There she studied at New York Academy of Art. How did she find the Big Apple? ‘Intense!’ says Emma. ‘A great place to study and I learned so much, but I wouldn’t want to live there.’ Lockdown saw her in London and as the country came out of imposed hibernation, Emma began teaching group classes at the Barbican. She loved it. ‘I really enjoy one-to-one teaching, but there is something about teaching groups, the dynamic. It’s really enjoyable.’ But north of the border was calling.
Fast forward and we find ourselves in one of Emma’s art classes in Glasgow West End, ready to be inspired. For Emma decided Glasgow was the place for her to set up her roots. And though she loves teaching one-to-one, she is embarking on group classes.
Brush Strokes
Emma begins by showing me the oil paint I will be using, the palette, the three blobs of primary colours decanted from the tubes. Apparently these blobs will translate into a still life of some ripe damson plums; they await me as my easel beckons. The group easels make a perfect circle around the room, whilst above on the walls Emma’s glorious artworks gently inspire. The beautifully crafted canvas of Emma’s childhood summers by the loch encourages me from the wall. I can do this. I can paint a plum.
Mixing paint colour is an art in itself. Emma patiently talks me through how to get my base plum colour. ‘Start with blue and red. A little more red. Maybe a little too much… no problem…’ Her patience is astonishing. I ask her if she ever gets irritated watching over a student’s shoulder. ‘No I don’t’ she laughs ‘I just don’t. Maybe that’s why I love teaching.’
Once I have a reasonable colour, time to put paintbrush to canvas, to ‘block’ the objects I see from my perspective. And so it goes on: blocking, mixing colours, colour tones, highlights, loading my brush, getting to know oil paint and how it forms, dries, deadens other colour; understanding the angle and strokes of the brush.
Art for All
As we paint, Emma patiently guiding me, I ask her who she welcomes as students. ‘It’s a whole range of people. From people who have never lifted a paintbrush, to those returning to painting, wanting to enhance their skills. I’ve also taught students who are thinking about art school.’ Emma doesn’t see differences in ability as a barrier to the groups she will be running. With weekly groups for all 13-plus, weekly groups for teens and weekend courses and workshops, she is catering for times that suit prospective students. She continues to offer one-to-one sessions for adults and younger children under 10.
Emma also loves doing themed workshops. In the Barbican, as guest tutor she has focused on Turner and Whistler and Modern London. Next spring, she hopes to run workshops on Expressive Portraiture and The British Palette. Her love for Art is palpable and contagious. It has been an afternoon of learning, expression and a time for myself. Therefore, a total departure from my day to day madness.
And ninety minutes on, I have learned more about art than I have in the past 40 years of my life. I have the beginnings of an oil still life that I have created. Okay, with a massive amount of help from an incredible teacher. As we leave, we thank Emma for her time, her knowledge and her patience.
On the sofa, Prince the cat regards my work of art. ‘I’ve seen better,’ he purrs as he calmly stretches and closes his eyes.
For information on Emmas’s art classes in Glasgow West End, for courses, workshops, art and so much more, visit her fantastic website at –
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