{"id":15771,"date":"2023-04-16T13:13:30","date_gmt":"2023-04-16T13:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/?page_id=15771"},"modified":"2025-07-04T16:49:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T16:49:40","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/index.php\/about\/","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Andrew\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Born in England to a traditional 1960s conservative family, Andrew grew up in an environment whose values clashed with his emerging desires for freedom and self-expression.<\/p>

Despite a natural inclination toward music, artisanal crafts, and abstract art, Andrew followed the expected family route and built a successful professional life in engineering and business consulting.<\/p>

Having owned a graphic design and print business, Andrew launched a contemporary embroidery house in 2004, developing bespoke embroideries for artworks and panels for residences, palaces, and superyachts.<\/p>

After the 2008 market crash and subsequent health issues, Andrew spent eight months in Taiwan, living by a beach and absorbing another culture. It was there that he found time to reflect and reconnect with his own aspirations.<\/p>

Returning to the UK in 2013, a new chapter began when he met his future wife, an Austrian native. Andrew soon moved to Austria to immerse himself in yet another culture.<\/p>

Acting as an international business consultant for a specialist luxury natural material recycling manufacturer, Andrew developed a range of artworks finished in mother-of-pearl and other natural shell materials.<\/p>

Being part of this creative environment rekindled Andrew\u2019s passion for art.<\/p>

Andrew then founded, with his wife, The Alt Collective\u2014a successful furniture company providing solutions to high-end hotels and restaurants\u2014while also designing his own furniture collections.<\/p>

In 2018, Andrew finally embraced his artistic side. Over the past six years, he has developed a collection of large canvas paintings, drafts, sketches, and inspirational pieces. For Andrew, painting became a means of reclaiming his identity\u2014a journey from compliance to self-acceptance.<\/p>

In August 2025, Andrew will present his first public exhibition in Mondim de Basto, Portugal. It marks a significant moment in his artistic journey\u2014an opportunity to share his deeply personal work with the public. Though he has always been a private person, this exhibition symbolizes his commitment to his art and his willingness to share it with others. Andrew\u2019s story serves as a reminder that the pursuit of one\u2019s true passion is not always linear, but is worth the struggle to realize.<\/p>

Behind Mine Eyes<\/strong> represents those experiences, thoughts, and emotions we endure, yet often share with no one.<\/p>

Andrew has named the inner persona that drives his art Ems<\/strong>, and presents his artwork under that name.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Born in England to a traditional 1960s conservative family, Andrew grew up in an environment whose values clashed with his emerging desires for freedom and self-expression. Despite a natural inclination toward music, artisanal crafts, and abstract art, Andrew followed the expected family route and built a successful professional life in engineering and business consulting. HavingRead more ⟶<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15771","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15771"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16149,"href":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15771\/revisions\/16149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/andrewwatson.studio\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}