Hilary - Biography

Born in 1982, I studied Industrial Design in NCAD but have always been a painter at heart. Images come into my mind connected to emotions or happenings and haunt me until I set them free onto canvas. I never chose to paint, it is part of me, and I need to do it.

The majority of my paintings are portraits of my emotional self, they depict the love, hurt, joy and loss that come into my everyday life. I am fascinated by the idea that a person or place or a book or a journey or a happening or even a breeze can influence you and change your life, change your opinions, your goals, your dreams, your personality, change who you are� The things that we experience every day form tiny parts of who we are�

My paintings grow from these influences, from something as small as a line in a book or lyric in a song, to something as overwhelming and huge as the death of a loved one. My paintings are physical expressions of the impact of these events on my being. A life changing experience can pass in a fleeting moment, I take that moment and give it life.

When people talk of their artistic influences, they often mention other artists, I am influenced by the turnings of my heart, the whispers of a ghost and the struggles and confusion of my life.

I am inspired by, and admire, artists that include Egon Schiele, Tamara de Lempicka, Paul Kerr, Pierre Auguste Renior, Salvador Dali, Paulo Coelho, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, William Shakespeare, Mitch Albom, Martin Finke and many more.

I am inspired by people who take the truth of their lives and look at it, turn it into art and share it with the world.

I admire people that find dreams and passion in their heart and follow it.

I am influenced by everything I witness every day.