Ema Frost's unforgettable elephants

07 Apr 2022

Artist Ema Frost is passionate about transporting her viewers to another world through her paintings and sculptures. Resene paints in soft pinks, blues and greens allow her to do just that. “I've just finished a collection called Colours of India (normally I go there for a couple of months every year). It’s inspired by architecture adorned with these  beautiful soft pastel colours.”

Resene Half Pearl Lusta, Resene Blue Night, Resene Cosmos, Resene Keppel and Resene Gold have been used to paint Ema’s elephant sculptures.

Ema says she has created art as long as she can remember. “My art business grew very organically, as one creation sparked ideas for my next creation. It’s just this inner calling that I must create, no matter how difficult or ridiculous it may seem. I remember getting my first piece in a gallery years ago now, which which started me off and then it has just continued to grow from there.”

She describes her style as playful and feminine, and gains plenty of inspiration for her pieces from travelling. “I absolutely adore travel, different cultures and learning and seeing new ways of doing things, it’s so fascinating and interesting to me. I spend a lot of time in India and Japan.”

Resene Half Pearl Lusta, Resene Blue Night, Resene Cosmos, Resene Keppel and Resene FX Metallic Gold have been used to create her most recent creations, adorable elephant sculptures.

Ema starts by drawing her ideas in a sketch book, and from there creates sculptures by scrunching up the main shape with paper. “I’ll tape it and make the basic form from this, then will build on top of this with non-drying modelling clay and shape it to a level where I’m happy and then will take a plaster mould of this which I use to make my ceramic pieces.”

Ema also painted a Whale Tail with Resene paints this year as part of the WWF Whale Trail. “My tail is in Botany Downs. My colour palette tends to be soft pastel colours. I really love Resene Cosmos, it’s such a beautiful pale pink, so soft and delicate like a flower petal.”

Ema with her dog Tokyo and her whale tail, which features Resene Blue Night, Resene Half Pearl Lusta, Resene Cosmos, Resene Kingfisher Daisy and Resene Rakaia.

When she’s not creating art, she’s training clients in fitness, or up in the air flying. “I do personal fitness training which I love. My clients are like family to me, so I feel lucky to have this combo of fitness and art. It gets me up at 5am every morning and then the afternoon is my creating time.”

Although her art is often inspired by overseas cultures, travel restrictions haven’t stopped Ema at all.

“I am an optimist and will always find ways to adapt and make the most of any situation – I’m a problem solver and always looking for new ways and to challenge myself. So I’ve been learning to fly, and it’s amazing the views you get up in the air!” Every flight is different, she says. It’s made her appreciate New Zealand’s landscape even more.

Resene Cosmos and Resene Gold have been used to paint this little elephant (called Snowflake).

Currently Ema is running Kintsugi Workshops around New Zealand inspired by her travels in Japan. “Kintsugi is an ancient Japanese art form where you fix broken pottery with gold, making its imperfections its beauty – a wonderful philosophy to live by.”

View more of Ema’s art, www.emafrost.com. 

Published: 07 Apr 2022