Art Medium: Painting & Mixed Media
Education: BA (Hons) Drawing & Painting, Edinburgh College of Art; Foundation Course, Leith School of Art.
Jemma Derbyshire is a painter living and working in Scotland. Her practice is centred on colour, memory and the shifting qualities of light, often beginning with observational drawing before evolving into expressive paintings that capture not just what is seen, but what is felt. Working in her garden studio, she creates layered surfaces where abstraction and representation meet, weaving together elements of landscape, still life and floral forms.
Alongside her own practice, Jemma is Co-Director of Paintbox School of Art in East Lothian, where she teaches and mentors emerging artists. She has also taught at Leith School of Art and continues to lead courses that focus on landscape and creative development.
Her work has been exhibited widely across the UK, with solo and group shows at galleries including Tighnabruaich Gallery, The Red Barn Gallery in Cumbria, and Dr Neil’s Garden in Edinburgh. Her paintings are held in private collections nationwide and are recognised for their lyrical handling of colour and the way they distil fleeting impressions into expressive paintings.
“While my drawings from observation often form the starting point, the paintings become less about what is directly in front of me and more about the memory of that experience — a record of light, colour and the emotions they leave behind.”
See Jo’s work currently represented by us here:
Paintings: Jemma Derbyshire
Website: gemmaderbyshire.com Instagram: @jemmaderbyshireartist