don
hill Australian Visual Artist
Contact Don Hill
telephone: 0434 226 675
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The Art Factory Gallery 2006
Don Hill's
new body of work the "Paintings from Nature" deal with his recent
adventures in the tropical far north of Queensland.
Pre Cyclone Larry, he made a return to painting in oils and this part of the
country after a three year session creating sculpture using found object,
hand worked pieces and painted bamboo sections.
The new works exhibit a solitary and intimate narrative using intense colours
and texture that excites the visual senses .
Hill's spontaneity and colour techniques involve and seduce the viewer and
invite them to look at a deeper more spiritual perspective within themselves.
The landscapes and still life works vary from impasto to delicate controlled
backgrounds and detail.
Having been a painter for about 36 years Don says he felt a need to return
to the landscape creating plein air.
Hill's experience in the tropical north has not only been a physical but also
spiritual.
His trip to Thorpe and Bedarra Island was a re awaking as to how fragile and
how close to the edge humans can really travel.
A very small boat the threat of crocodiles and an uncaring sea.
Davson Gallery January 2006
"Sculpture from Canvas" is a unique exhibition to the Davson Gallery and visitors have never seen works like this in previous exhibitions. The works involve the use of are richly coloured oils and recycled materials. Hill says " My works are created using recycled canvas over stringer frames and found wooden objects to form three dimensional sculptural art works." "Some have an application of paint to relive a memory of the past and possible experiences of real and ideological landscape. Don Hill works in an expressionist style and finds inspiration in the coastal and island landscapes of Queensland. This is reflected in the titles of the works.
Felicity Mason 2005
Don Hill
has been creating pieces of art since the early 1970’s. With solid colours
of acrylic and oil paints;
Don produces interesting art… but with a twist. Each uniquely constructed
from recycled materials ranging from
bamboo to timber frames, these artworks are both bold and playful. The three-dimensional
structure allows for
the piece to be observed at multiple angles. And his style is noted for being
like none other.
Inspired
by having worked with notables such as Arthur Evan Read, Mervyn Moriarty and
in particular Frank de Silva,
to name only a few, Hill was inspired and encouraged to further develop his
artwork. Over the years, his pieces were
influenced by a close relationship between the Australian beach culture and
inland lifestyle. As put by Hill,
“It involves us all in some way regardless of where we live or what we
do down-under.”
FOX GALLERIES
One of
the strongest memories I have from my association with Don Hill's work was
the reaction it caused the day after
September 11 2001. Three of his paintings sold on that surreal day, as though
they served as a reminder of the beauty
still existing in the world.
I first became acquainted with Don's work the year prior to the aforementioned
events and was drawn to the continuing
development of his aesthetic over a 30 year period. Though he grew up in Ipswich
and had early tuition from Frank De Silva,
inspiration was eastward to the sea and to Moreton Bay in particular.He was
not the first artist so inspired, however where
the interpretation of our coastal fringes had traditionally been of a representational
kind, Don strove to convey a sense
of oneness with this environment.The works I first viewed almost five years
ago contained a spiritual attachment to the
coastal environment, heightened by a relief - like depth of oil on canvas.This
interpretation carried through to the
execution of the completed artwork by fashioning his stretchers by hand, resulting
in paintings that could be best described
as object d art.Over the past two years Don has turned his attention inland
once more and
completed a number of series of works exploring the interaction of land, sky
and cloud. He has chosen to exhibit these works
in regional centres to gauge the reaction of viewers who actually live amongst
these landscapes. I look forward to observing the
evolution of Don’s aesthetic in the future.
Michael
Fox
Director
Fox Galleries
Brisbane
