Two women are taking photos of each other through a small bridge with the water and trees in the background. One woman is standing on a picnic basket, wearing a colorful, patterned dress, smiling while posing. The other woman, with a ponytail and tattoos, is in a blue floral dress, holding her phone to take a picture.

Photo by Rebecca Smeyne for The New York Times.

Meet the artist

Emma Fanning is a visual artist with a focus on works on paper and ceramics based in northern New Jersey. Her ink and watercolor drawings are influenced by her background in art history, study of 17th and 18th century design, and love of animals, both large and small. Featuring a whimsical cast of characters including Clementine the marmalade cat and Faison the grey mouse, Fanning creates imagined worlds in which elements from the art and design of eras past serve as a stage for an ever growing array of charismatic creatures.