Emilio Payes was born in Alicante, Spain . He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in his hometown. Numerous studying trips led him first and foremost to the North in his own country (Asturias and Galicia), but he perfected his artistic education also on journeys to France and Italy .

Pay's began painting professionally when he was 28 years old. Primarily he depicted the typical landscapes of Northern Spain and the precarious life of her inhabitants, as well as marine scenes from the stormy Gulf of Biscaye . However, since about 1980 the artist directs his main interest to painting city views and he shows highly impressive scenes from his favorite cities, Paris and Venice.