Emma Jeffryes was born in Hertfordshire. She obtained a BA in Printed Textiles from Watford College of Art, going on to complete an MA at London's Royal College of Art. She began her career as a freelance textile designer in London, and moved to St Ives in 1997, where she showed her first collection of a dozen paintings in acrylic at the New Craftsman Gallery. The artist's work has also been exhibited at the Rainyday Gallery in Penzance. Jeffryes names her favourite artists as Mary NEWCOMB, Bob BOURNE and Rose HILTON.