seminal field guide featuring the cleric’s beautiful
paintings, a book she still treasures and refers to now.
Emma’s mother was hugely encouraging when it
came to her young daughter’s creative pastimes, which
included papercra f t in t he 80s, when a ny t h ing
handmade was seriously uncool.ENGLISH ECCENTRIC
It was in childhood, too, that Emma first felt an
affinity with the Victorian age, which was born out of
her parents’ love of National Trust properties: “I liked
t he cabinet s of cur iosit ies. Somet imes t hey were kept
in drawers so you could open them.” Inspired by these
miniature collections, Emma started her own. She
opens up the dusty old biscuit tin that, aged seven, she
filled with treasures, and unwraps a nest of tiny shells,
an old kid-skin 19th-century purse and some
minuscule glass animal ornaments.
Now, Emma’s passion for classification is satisfied
by a vintage printers’ font tray in which she displays
natural finds, labelling them using her fountain pen.
“Each is a small, temporary, seasonal museum. I like to
think of myself as a Victorian curator.” In a pleasing
blend of traditional and contemporary, she shares the
resulting images on Instagram with more than
105,000 followers. A not her of Em ma’s quirks is her
love of 19th century-style clothing. One of her latest
purchases is a pair of sturdy but beautiful oxblood
lace-up ankle boots. “I’d stop short of a bonnet, but I
will go walking in the woods in a smock dress and
PHOTOGRAPHY: MATT AUSTINthese boots, because they make me feel lovely.”
1972 Born Emma Anne O’Donovan in
Liverpool
1995 Graduates from University of
Cambridgein Natural Sciences;
begins PhD in Slime Mould
Molecular Cell Biology
1997 Makes first piece of jewellery
1999 Moves in with future husband
Andyin Cambridge, marrying him
in 2001
2000 Works as Intellectual Property
consultant
2003 Moves to Cambridgeshire Fens
2004 Learns to identify cow parsley
2005 Daughter Evie is born (followed
by Rose in 2008)
2008 Rediscovers jewellery-making
andstarts blog
2013 Devises The Big Comic Relief
Crafternoonpublication (which
has raised £100,000 to date)
2016 Launches a handwritten letter
exchange on social media
2017 PublishesMakingWinter, then
The Wild Remedyin 2019NATURAL SELECTION
The Emma Mitchell CVShe also has a penchant for a certain species of South
American rodent. So, what’s with the guinea pigs,
Em ma? “I remember seeing Beat rix Pot ter ’s pa int ing
of green-fingered cavies tending their allotment in
Cecily Parsley’s Nursery Rhymes when I was small and
wondering what these comical creatures were. Three
years ago, two small, real ones called Lamby and
Chocolate Biscuit came to live with us. We make them
salads each day using feverfew, fennel and chervil
f rom t he g a rden a nd t hey live in a rat her lovely t wo -
storey house.” (There are more pet homes on page 84.)A DAILY CONSTITUTIONAL
While creating a cosy home for both her animal
lodgers and her own family is important to Emma,
leaving it is an essential ritual during the winter
months. “I know that spending time in nature is the
answer. I don’t wait until I feel so God-awful that I
can’t get out of the house, but instead fend off the
darker days.” So, consider putting on your warmest
layers and steal yourself to leave the house and venture
into the great outdoors, whether that’s an urban park
or ancient woodland. “Catkins will be waving like
little lambs’ tails in the wind,” Emma says,
encouragingly. “You may spot bright-yellow aconites,
pussy willow or the first cherry blossom, and you’ll
almost certainly hear some kind of birdsong.”
To order a copy of The Wild Remedy (Michael O’Mara) by
Emma Mitchell for £10 (usually £14.99), call 01903 828503
and quote WILD19. Offer ends 28 February 2019. Details of
Emma’s workshops are at silverpebble.net.Opposite, from left:
Emma’s sketch of a
goldcrest; preparations
for wreath-making;
ladybirds “in the
torpor of hibernation”
nestled in a knapweed
seedhead in JanuaryLIVING (^) | WISDOM