BASSENDEAN self-taught artist Emma Coleman is on the autism spectrum and said while she didn’t want her condition to define her or her artmaking, it did lend her a unique perspective.

“My art is from my perspective, and I love nature,” she said.

“I like to show and emphasise things that I really like to look at and catch my eye.

“I tend to also paint nature because I find it calming and I guess I understand nature and animals a bit better than I get people.”

It was quite challenging getting exposure and networking for Ms Coleman as she said there was a lack of opportunities.

“It’s hard getting my work into different galleries. There’s not too much really, in Perth,” she said.

“I was focusing more on markets selling smaller pieces and prints, and I’ve been successful selling my work at markets.

“My most popular work has probably been prints of the turtle with the seaweed on the shell.”

Ms Coleman found it relaxing and enjoyable to paint natural subjects and hoped she could also impart that feeling on people who saw her art.

“I’ve always loved animals and being in nature,” she said.

“It just makes me feel happy, so I like to paint and create things that make me happy and hopefully try to make other people happy when they look at it.”

Ms Coleman attends sessions with Disability in the Arts, Disadvantage in the Arts Australia (DADAA) for mentoring and assistance on her art journey and was grateful for their help.

She also displays her work with DADAA as part of the talking tea rooms exhibitions.

Ms Coleman has an art business under the name emoonart but is rebranding to Emma Coleman Arts.

Her works are on show at the Wanneroo art exhibition until July 13, and she will be further exhibiting her work in the Bassendean open art studios in November, and at the Perth Royal Show in the landscapes category.