Emily (Scott) Brown was raised in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Brown’s unique approach to artmaking grew out of her training at both the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the University of Pennsylvania. Through friendships with two of her instructors at UPenn, Rudy Burckhardt and Neil Welliver, she and her husband, photographer Will Brown, became attached to Waldo County, Maine in 1966.

 Brown's practice began with small-scale plein air oil paintings of the countryside of inland Maine and parts of Philadelphia. Her restless curiosity led to making larger paintings outdoors, some with multiple images or as diptychs or triptychs. With the acquisition of a studio she explored work in other materials and at larger scales, evolving an interactive practice of ink wash drawing. Her recent subjects include trees and sections of woods, details on the ground, and water surfaces. Moved by the transience of every living thing, she values the practice of looking hard at what is – and then partnering with the aqueous medium to convey a sense of the experience.

Although Philadelphia remained their primary residence, Emily and Will spent their summers in Maine for over 50 years, and the distinctive beauty of the Maine landscape profoundly influenced her work. In 2019, the couple moved from Philadelphia to Garrison, New York to live near their daughter and her family. In her studio, which is nestled in the forested hillside along a stream, she continues to be inspired by the beauty of her natural surroundings.

Brown is included in the following selected museum collections: Bowdoin College Art Museum, Brunswick, ME; Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, ME; James A. Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA.; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME, Princeton University Art Museum, and the Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia. Her work is also owned by many prominent corporate and public collections including Alliance Bernstein, Tokyo, Japan; CIGNA Corporation, Philadelphia; Cisco Systems; Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore; Price Waterhouse, Prints and Pictures Collection; Free Library of Philadelphia; and Readers Digest Corporation, amongst many others.

Select awards, fellowships and residencies include: LaNapoule Arts Foundation, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France; Grant for Visual Arts, Independence Foundation, Philadelphia; Purchase Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; Pew Fellowship GAP Grant; Milton and Sally Avery Fellowship; The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, N.H.; Nominee, Joan Mitchell Award for Painting, and a fellowship with Pew Foundation for the Arts, Philadelphia, for painting.