“I don't think I could paint a straight line, ever,” says south-western Sydney based artist, Emma Oliver. “It just always ends up like this,” Oliver adds, as she draws a swirling line in the air with her fingers. Bunches of sunny florals bloom from Oliver’s imagination onto the page. Hand painted using gouache, fine brushes, and an abundance of patience, her unique style has come to be called ‘whimsical’ by some customers.
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| Emma Oliver at her studio desk | Source: Supplied |
Oliver joins me over a video call from her light-filled art studio. Tucked away in a corner of the home she shares with her partner, Alex, the space offers generous sized windows that look out to the surrounding bushland. It’s a feature of Australia that the UK-raised artist has slowly grown to love since moving to the country in her mid-teens. “I just didn't know how to embrace Australian culture at all when we moved here,” says Oliver. Initially sporting a strong Essex accent, Oliver quickly adopted the Australian way of speaking after attracting unwanted attention at school. Coupled with her red hair, slender frame and fair complexion, the artist paints a picture of her younger self that is in stark contrast to the sun-kissed, beach-goer ideal.
Years of travelling back and forth between the UK and Australia, as well as a permanent move to the Sutherland Shire enabled Oliver to connect with the country’s natural side. It is from her workspace among the trees that she welcomes regular visits from local wildlife, including a wide array of colourful birds. Among these, a duo of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets perched among flowering gums as well as a trio of Robins resting on magnolia branches star in two recent artworks. Commissioned for the Bird Week Exhibition, ‘Joy’, the latter piece in particular holds special significance for the artist. “In our family, magnolia trees hold a special meaning to us because of my Grandad, and Robin Redbreasts in England are a little ‘hello’ from our lost loved ones,” says Oliver. “Seeing a Rose Robin settle on a magnolia branch in my little garden here was a sign that I just had to paint robins for Bird Week.”
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| The Robin Hood, 2025, Emma Oliver | Source: Supplied |
While Australian flora and fauna appear frequently in her works, Oliver is also known for an ever expanding series of shop prints. What began with a small selection of embellished buildings, including a classic city terrace and a humble bakery, has grown into a joyful exploration of all manner of retail outlets. “People started asking me if I had any more shops to go with the bakery,” says Oliver. “And now I'm out of control”. As she scrolls through a list of customer-provided suggestions on her phone, it is clear that there is no shortfall of demand for her playful storefronts. In a turn from her usual style, Oliver recently reimagined her 2024 ‘Trick & Treats Halloween Shop’ as a store in the ‘Upside Down’. Complete with boarded windows, creeping overgrowth and rotting pumpkins, the work offers subtle nods to the popular television series Stranger Things, of which Oliver is a fan.
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| Emma Oliver's signature shops | Source: Supplied |
Dark subject matter aside, Oliver is no stranger to producing works steeped with meaning. Throughout the year, the artist works closely with customers to create personalised house portraits. To aid the process, each customer shares some of their personal and family history with Oliver, rendering even the most inconspicuous residence as something more. “It's the stories and it's the attachment to it. That's why people love it and that's why I like doing the portraits,” says Oliver. She tells me however that balancing the detailed memories shared by customers with her own artistic process can sometimes pose a challenge.
“I think people either get it or they don't get it”, says Oliver, as we talk about the value people place on original art. It is a reality she often confronts when face to face with the general public at local and interstate makers markets. Operating under the business name ‘Zenti Designs’, Oliver has become a regular stallholder at markets such as The Makers and Shakers, The Finders Keepers and Handmade Canberra. Often requiring significant upfront financial investment to secure a space, time, funds and effort is also spent in the preparation. “There's all of the many, many weeks and late nights of actually prepping all the products,” says Oliver. “But that's just what we do.” Come market day, each stallholder is reliant on good footfall and engaged visitors to turn a profit. While sales can sometimes be hard to come by, positive feedback received from market goers has helped Oliver to build up her confidence and appreciate her artistic growth.
Since her first market in the Hills District in 2016, Oliver has not only built relationships with customers but also her fellow market-artists. With a dedicated group chat, ‘The Handmade Babes’, the friend group of like-minded creatives share tips, seek advice and exchange the odd funny story or two. “We are all the same and we will spend the same amount of time stressing over our own work, stressing out about how our store looks and our setup,” says Oliver. Often referring to the group as a ‘travelling circus’, Oliver tells me about each member, including how they met and what they specialise in. In an industry commonly marked by creators turning to social media to virally influence the masses, a community of local artists uplifting each other is a welcome sight.
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| 'The Handmade Babes' | Source: Taylah Cunningham for Handmade Canberra |
From being obsessed with paper and stationery as a child, Oliver’s love of art and design has blossomed into a thriving creative business. It was through completing a Diploma at Sydney’s International School of Colour and Design (ISCD) that she discovered gouache, her now favoured medium, as well as a penchant for surface design and illustration. While Oliver would like to one day design a pattern for fabric or wrapping paper, she admits she is “caught up in 20 million other things”. With another two markets to prepare for this side of 2025, house portraits to finalise, and perhaps a new product in the works, there are plenty of things Oliver can add her flourish to.
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