EMILY BALL AT SEAWHITE | CONTEMPORARY DRAWING AND PAINTING COURSES |
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TREAD LIGHTLY | A One Woman Show of Paintings and Drawings by Emily Ball |
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| Image: Emily with Tread Lightly painting in the Seawhite Studio |
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Dear Visitor Tread Lightly opens at the Atrium Gallery at Seawhite of Brighton on Saturday, 5 December 2026. It features drawings and paintings by Emily that have been inspired by her deep connection to nature. Comprised of two series of paintings – Woodland Weave and Limbs and Light – the exhibition is the first time that Emily has exhibited these works side by side and offers you the chance to see these important bodies of work together. The show also has an accompanying film, offering an insight into the work and features interviews with Emily along with a specially commissioned soundtrack. Experienced within the exhibition space, the film encourages a deeper engagement with the themes, atmosphere and ideas explored in the work.
Emily warmly invites you to join her on Saturday 5 December (10am – 4pm) to celebrate the opening of Tread Lightly and to enjoy these drawings and paintings in-person. Come and see the work for yourself, talk to Emily and your fellow artists about painting from nature - and (of course!) enjoy a drink and a slice of cake.
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Opening Event
Saturday 5 December
10am – 4pm
Atrium Gallery, Seawhite of Brighton
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| | Image: 'The Trees are Listening', Emily Ball |
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At the heart of the exhibition are Emily's large-scale woodland paintings, part of her continuing exploration of what she calls the Woodland Weave of life. These works are an investigation into how painting might capture the transient qualities of nature: its constant movement; its layers of growth and decay; and the extraordinary complexity of the living world. |
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| Image: 'All is Quiet' Oil on Arches paper, Emily Ball |
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The woodlands behind Emily's childhood home have long been an important source of inspiration, characterising the beautiful disorder of nature. Rather than simply depicting the landscape, Emily works alongside it, responding to what she encounters. The seemingly random scattering of twigs and leaves on a woodland path becomes a kind of drawing made by nature itself, with her own studies echoing that same process: "If I can capture just some of the transient beauty – the precarious balance, the exquisite chaos – then I am doing my job well. I don't see landscape as a subject to be painted and viewed at arm's length. I feel both rooted and vulnerable when I am there; making the work has to be risky. I push into that feeling rather than try to capture the view." ~ Emily |
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| Image: 'Sap Rising', Emily Ball |
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Time spent sitting in the woods, allows Emily to become increasingly aware of the smallest details. She begins to feel rooted in the space, scattering marks across the page like leaves on the ground. It is this close attention, and the willingness to work instinctively and responsively with what is happening around her that gives the Woodland Weave paintings their particular energy. |
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| Image: 'Careful Where you Tread', Oil on Canvas, Emily Ball |
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Alongside the woodland paintings, the exhibition includes Emily's garden paintings, shaped by the intense heat and atmosphere of this past summer. |
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| Image: 'Limbs and Light - the Old Apple Tree' Diptych,Oil on Canvas, Emily Ball |
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Parched plants, deep shade and brilliant sunlight have all found their way into these works, which capture the intensity of a garden during the height of summer. Although distinct from the woodland paintings, these works share the same curiosity about the natural world and the desire to capture something of its constantly changing presence. |
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| Image: 'Collage Study in Pink', Emily Ball |
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At the centre of Emily's garden stands a beautiful old apple tree. Its knobbly trunk and twisting branches reach out across the space, providing shade and shelter while creating a constantly changing pattern of light and shadow. This tree - and the interplay between its limbs and the light filtering through them - is the subject for the series Limbs and Light. |
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| Image: 'Tree Study', Oil on Arches paper, Emily Ball |
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The title of the exhibition reflects something fundamental to Emily's relationship with nature. Over time, she has developed a fascination with the plants and trees themselves, considering their own forms of consciousness and the ways in which human presence and interaction affect the landscapes we inhabit and pass through. There is an awareness that, although we may spend hours in a particular place, drawing, listening and observing, we remain visitors to a world that exists quite independently of us. "The plants and trees know that I am there. I play no part in their lives. I am just passing through, yet the impact those hours of drawing, listening, breathing, playing are profound and informative for me." |
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Images: drawings in the woods (Emily Ball)
Her descriptions of the woodland floor reveal the richness of this experience and the depth of her observations. What might initially appear to be a tangle of decaying leaves and vegetation becomes an extraordinary world of colour, texture and detail.
"Glowing, dim, and dishevelled – my carpet underfoot, strewn and uneven. The damp decay is shiny, glossy, vibrant and rich – every texture extraordinary, every detail functional. Time becomes irrelevant when I am here - how long can I stand and stare and do nothing but notice?" |
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| Image: 'Beneath the Yew Tree' Oil on Arches paper, Emily Ball |
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For Emily, both the woods and the garden offer places to become still, to slow down and to reconnect with the natural rhythms of the world. They provide an opportunity to collaborate with the weather, the plants and the changes taking place around her, rather than trying to control or impose something upon them. “These moments give me the space and time to notice the extraordinary and stop chasing things that do not matter. A place to breathe and reverently pay homage to the beauty and rawness of Nature." |
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| Image: Woodland Improvisations' Oil on Arches paper (Emily Ball) |
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It is this sense of respect, curiosity and quiet engagement that lies behind the title Tread Lightly. |
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Bringing the Paintings Back to the Woods
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| Images: Noah Carter filming in the woods (Emily Ball) |
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As part of Tread Lightly, Emily has invited filmmaker Noah Carter to create a film exploring the development of the work and the locations that have inspired it. The film will include footage of the paintings taken back into the woodland, alongside interviews with Emily, where she talks about her ideas, processes and experiences. The film's specially commissioned soundtrack has been created by Emily's son, William Stuart. Using recordings of Emily's footsteps in the woods as a starting point, William has developed an original soundscape that connects Emily’s experience in nature with the visual world of the paintings. |
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| Images: Tread Lightly in the woods (Emily Ball) |
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The idea of taking the paintings back to the places that inspired them has become an important part of this story. Emily recently took the completed works into the woods, allowing them to be seen once again within the landscape from which they emerged. The experience was a revelation. The paintings seemed entirely at home among the trees, taking on a renewed presence and offering Emily a fresh way of looking at the woodland itself. It was almost as though the paintings had entered into a conversation with the woods, strengthening the connection between the work and its origins. |
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| Images: Tread Lightly in the woods (Emily Ball) |
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Tread Lightly brings these experiences together: the paintings, the places, the sounds and the process of really noticing. It invites us to slow down, pay attention and perhaps rediscover the extraordinary beauty in the natural world immediately around us. We look forward to welcoming you!
Tread Lightly – Emily Ball
5 December 2026 – 19 March 2027 Atrium Gallery at Seawhite of Brighton.
Opening Day:
Saturday 5 December, 10am–4pm |
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Are you going to be in or near Florida early next year? Would you like to kick start your year with Emily? Hosted at the McRae Art Studios by Debbie Miller and Lynn Whipple (both of whom are Seawhite Studio alumni), Emily will be delivering two courses: |
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| Still Life Reimagined:
When the Painted Still Life
Encounters Collage,
Improvisation & Play January 29-31, 2027 | $725
A 3-day immersive workshop focusing on still life as a springboard to play and experiment with paint, collage, and improvisation.
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Emily Ball Master Class:
February 3-7, 2027 | $1450
In this 5-day intensive course Emily will help you move your painting forward with a mix of group instruction and one-on-one interactions. The Master Class offers a unique opportunity to be guided and prompted into your own artwork and explore ways of working. |
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The Master Class is already fully booked, but you are welcome to join the waiting list. Book before November 16 to enjoy these early bird discounted course fees. For more information about these courses, click on the button below:
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