Emma Ridout has the distinction of being easily the youngest artist ever to exhibit work at Beckstones Art Gallery, her first painting being shown when she was only eight years old. Born in 1977 in Yokahama, Japan and guided and taught by her father Jim, a full-time artist, Emma Ridout won a national painting competition when she was ten and her GCSE Art work was chosen for exhibitions including one at the Department for Education in London. After completing her A-Level Art in 1995 she read Japanese Studies at Cambridge University, which allowed Emma Ridout to return to Japan for a year during which time her interest in Japanese Art increased and over the years has come to influence her own painting style. Emma Ridout now paints mostly watercolours of the Lake District. Tennis has also played a major role in Emma Ridout’s life, having reached national standard as a junior and later becoming captain of the Cambridge University team. She married a fellow Cambridge student in 2001 and they have two daughters. Emma Ridout works part time in publishing and continues to successfully pursue her painting career.