Emma Thomson grew up in Canterbury, Kent, and was inspired to paint from a very young age by her creative family. Her father had many artistic talents and her mother’s father was also a painter. One of her sisters is a very successful ceramicist and Emma herself showed artistic talent as early as the age of 4, when she was the only member of her class able to draw houses in three dimensions! At secondary school, she almost made her art teacher cry by telling her that she was going to become a beautician!
Emma Thomson completed a Foundation Course at the Hatfield College of Art and then studied Graphic Design at Middlesex Polytechnic. On her graduation, she worked for a major greetings card publisher and, subsequently, created two character ranges for another publisher which have been licensed around the world.
Despite the enormous success of her licensed ranges, Emma Thomson began to lose enthusiasm for working as an employee and had already had to teach a team of people to paint “colour by numbers” in her style. Finding the day-to-day process of art ‘administration’, rather than ‘creation’ quite soul destroying, Emma Thomson decided to set up on her own. She became an exclusive freelance artist for another publisher before, after three years, deciding to become wholly non-exclusive. With a friend, she launched the company which has subsequently created the “Felicity Wishes” range, which is now one of the most successful character licences in the world.
Emma Thomson has recently completed a “Felicity Wishes” book and she also owns an 18th Century shop in Whitstable, where she works and creates new Felicity Wishes concepts.
