Biography
Emily Ferrell was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. She attended Durham School of the Arts in Durham, North Carolina and focused on creating 2D art. She began her college education as a zoology major at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, but later transferred to Appalachian State University where she received her BFA in Studio Art with an emphasis in painting and drawing. She now does commission work and murals in the mountains of NC and around the Triangle.
Ferrell identifies herself as a portrait and street artist. She taught herself how to use airbrush, spray paint and oil paint in portraiture after being formally trained in graphite, charcoal and acrylic painting. Humankind and natural subjects are her primary source of content, and she likes to use animals in her work when not working in portraiture because of her animal studies background. She is inspired by the fluidity and the combination of harsh lines and smooth fades in the spray paint and airbrush worlds, as well as the darkness and light that exists within her human subjects and how this translates in these mediums.