Young hockey artist making name for herself on social media

Emma Bracken is taking social media by storm with her unique hockey artwork.

The 18-year-old from North Carolina draws original hockey designs and logos and paints player portraits on clothing.

Bracken has built a strong following on social media and her work has gone viral. Most recently, a thread of subtle hockey tattoo ideas received over 800k views on X.

"The first thread I started doing was in April,” Bracken said. “I was looking on Pinterest through a lot of hockey tattoos, kind of thinking for myself, and they're all very big and manly....I just wanted to create something that I know I would be more comfortable having on my body, like a way to subtly support your team, which I feel is really meaningful to a lot of hockey fans.”

She estimates around 30 to 40 people have gotten one of her tattoo designs. After posting her duck tattoo, a fan messaged her 12 hours later to say they had gotten it.

The young artist’s work has also caught the attention of players and their families, especially their moms. Bracken, who painted Matthew Tkachuk ’s portrait on his jersey after the Stanley Cup, said the Florida Panthers forward’s mom comments on her posts.

Mikkayla Lindgren, Washington Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren ’s wife, recently commissioned a piece.

Her player portraits on jerseys take around 60-70 hours to complete. She is currently working on a Steven Stamkos portrait.

Art had always been a part of Bracken’s life. Her grandmother is an artist and her mother painted murals for a time. She credits them both for teaching her. But it wasn’t until the pandemic that Bracken got super into her own craft.

“Over COVID, I would paint for 9-10 hours a day and get off of my Zoom calls to paint until like 12 AM,” Bracken said. “My sister had just started playing hockey at that time. And so, I started, you know, watching the games too and doing some of that stuff.”

In 2021, she started posting her creations on social media.

“Not much originally happened, but I think I just kept going for a few years,” Bracken said. “Now I've really found the love for it. I do it still like eight hours every day.”

Growing up a few minutes from PNC Arena, Bracken and her family would go to Carolina Hurricanes here and there. Once her sister started playing hockey in 2019, it took the family’s fandom to a whole new level. The family are now Hurricanes season ticket holders.

“My mom goes to the [season ticket holder] events. And she showed them [her artwork] to all the players. So, they've seen them before.”

For the last two seasons, Bracken was a member of the NHL Power Players, the league’s youth advisory board. She called the experience “amazing” and said her fellow members are “the most passionate hockey fans you’ll find.”

Through the experience, the young artist attended the NHL All-Star games in Fort Lauderdale and Toronto. Her favorite memories from the weekends include hanging out with her fellow Power Players and running into players in the city. The red carpets are also hard to beat.

“We get these VIP passes on the red carpets and get to meet everybody,” Bracken said. “I brought some of my drawings and got them signed by the players. That was very cool too.”

This fall, Bracken will be attending University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She is majoring in management international relations and modern history. She hopes to go into sports management one day.

“Not as much art. I really like doing it on the side, but I don't think it could be a full-time thing,” Bracken said. “But just how the Power Players have helped me kind of get into the sports world, I'd really like to continue on that.”