I had a chance to catch up with Surrey-based acrylic painter Emma Hill to discuss her work and how she embraced 2020 as a creative awakening.

Tell me a bit about your background.

I’m half English and half Norwegian and paint from my home in Surrey.

From a young age, I was always drawing and painting. I didn’t get into art college. At the time, I was devastated. It was only years later I could see it as a blessing.

Instead, I studied art and philosophy at a school of humanities in the mountains of Lillehammer in Norway. I have a Double Honours in Art History and Scandinavian Studies.

As an artist, I am self-taught. I’m very lucky. I’ve had the best ‘art’ education I could ever dream of, out on the street, exploring the world, during my days as cabin crew for British Airways. I made it my mission to go out and explore, to look for art and culture everywhere I went. It was a real adventure.

Becoming an artist was a case of mistaken identity. I was at the Affordable Art Fair and someone came up to me asking if I was an artist and I said yes, although I had only painted one painting. He said I should go and see his sister. Three months later, I was taken on by his sister as ‘New British Artist’s ‘Wild Card’ at the London Art Fair and had a 5 metre wall space and sold out. It was my lucky break.

***Graffiti Summer, acrylic painting by Emma Hill***

What is your preferred medium?

Acrylic. I like that it’s easy to use and dries quickly, and that it’s easy to add layers and rub paint away.

What are some of the ideas you explore in your work?

My paintings explore my memories and experiences of nature: of the sea, the sky and the landscape.

Rather than following the traditional sense of recording by recognition, my use of colour and texture instead document my senses. The energy of my mark-making expresses my emotions and remembrance of a time and place, creating a visual dreamscape to convey the true essence.

I create paintings to dream into, based on my intuition. My aim as an artist is to share inspiration, hope and happiness through my art.

Most recently, I’ve started to explore responses to people and places, in the form of abstract interiors and landscape.

Tell me about your process.

I don’t research as such, but I’m like a sponge soaking up a bit of everything I see. I’m drawn towards repetition and pattern, particularly in nature and I’m interested in different cultures. Previously, I’d sketched / scribbled to work out balance, space and composition.

***Rainbow Tsunami, acrylic painting by Emma Hill***

Now, I work purely intuitively without preparation, I’m guided only by feeling. I’ll paint the base layer which I quite like because it's raw and fresh, urgent and immediate. Then I start to work into it and somehow some of that beautiful raw expression created in five minutes gets lost. It becomes a little over controlled and that’s not necessarily a good thing. If I have an urge to try something, I take the risk and go for it. By now, I’ve learnt to trust my instinct as I know that it will push me forward and take me somewhere even better, maybe not in the painting I’m creating then, but definitely in what is to come. It’s like a conversation, I get in the flow, everything starts falling apart, and at some point, usually when it can’t get any worse, I find my come back. I then hit the magic where it becomes whole, everything fits together and just feels right.

I work on one or two paintings at a time, purely as I’m limited to space. Although, I would love the freedom of 12 large paintings all around me to paint.

Share about the evolution of your style.

My artwork style seems to have evolved and grown up alongside me and yet it has taken me on a journey linking me back to where I started, it is like I’ve travelled a full circle.

I first started painting in an abstract style, inspired by Aboriginal art and was very interested in their dreamings, storytelling and connection to their land.

When I had children, my paintings became naive and illustrative, encouraging imaginative storytelling influenced by Norwegian folklore.

As they got older so did my style, my painting turned surreal and my rainbow bright illustrative dreamscapes turned black and white.

Now I paint intuitively, abstract and expressive, paintings to dream into. Initially I was influenced by the sky and the sea. Now I’m moving towards mindscape, landscape. In lockdown I have also created some iconic Love Hearts, to unite, sharing love through art.

Could you also talk about your career as an artist?

I had 10 years of success which came to me easily as I had a gallery who took my artwork to all the major shows around the UK. I didn’t do anything else than paint pictures. My children were young, so this suited me well. When my agent retired, I didn’t go to look for any other representation. Instead, I got a job running an art studio teaching art at ARTHOUSE Unlimited, a charity presenting the artistic talents of adults living with learning and physical difficulties who require varying levels of support. They sell art and beautifully designed products stocked worldwide. I’ve been at the ARTHOUSE for 10 years now, and have enjoyed leading some wonderful commissions for Oxfam, Discovery Channel, and Lush, to name a few.

Three years ago, after a three year gap from painting my own pictures, I started painting again, intuitively. Instead of producing work for art fairs, I took time to explore a new painting style and did all I could to get my work seen. Mostly, this was and still is by applying to group shows and open calls. I was lucky to become one of the most recent Liberty Open Call winners, which gave me extra recognition, although initially it was difficult as I couldn’t get into anything else for a good year thereafter. With Lockdown, that’s all changed through Instagram. I’m continuously putting myself out there, communicating with others, building myself a community of like-minded people.

The difference between my career as an artist before and now is: before, I only had to paint, and now, the painting part is such a small percentage of what needs to be done as an artist. I am constantly learning -- everything from marketing to selling, packaging and logistics.

Which artists do you look to for inspiration?

Some of my favourites are Jessica Zoob, Dan Baldwin, Fiona Rae, Dylan Richards, Zhuang Hong-yi, Gabrielle Jones, Lisa Morgan and Aboriginal art.

***Astro Vertigo, acrylic painting by Emma Hill***

Which artists do you enjoy following at the moment?

Evi Antonio, Laurence De Valmy, Marit Bostad, Ekaterina Popova, KV Doung, Genevieve Leavold, Ian Rayer- Smith, Bjornar Aasland, Vicky Barranguet, YangYang Pan, Eadaoin Glynn, Ute Bivonia, Skye Holland, Heidi Shedlock and Elizabeth Mikellides. Oh there are so many, and the list goes on…..

Tell me about your studio.

A mess, it’s meant to be in the corner of my dining room which has eaten up the whole room. I love working at home because you can find precious moments in between family and everything else. A little here and there adds to quite a lot. It’s a lovely room, with Bi-folding doors and a roof lantern, but now the dinning room table has been taken over with college, school-work and textiles.

What is the most memorable thing someone has said about your work?

Your paintings are pleasure givers, joyous and delicious. I love them all.

You seemed to have really embraced 2020 as a year of opportunity. Can you talk about this?

2020 has been my creative awakening. I found clarity in my story, vision and purpose, everything I’ve had within me for 20 years without seeing it. I have found like-minded artists and creative people who share my thoughts, who give me a sense of belonging and a community.

I have invested deeply in myself, on a root to leaf brand strategy and design, a new website and high-quality, photo-scans of my artwork, ready to print. I applied to everything I could, to get my work seen and I mostly got accepted.

The most valuable thing I learnt this year is awareness, to trust your instincts even if everything seems to contradict, working against what you think you believe, there’s a bigger picture, which I’m just beginning to see. I found taking time out being close to nature has given me clarity, all creative thoughts in my head find order and then surprisingly new unexpected ideas appear out of nowhere.

***Sherbet Symphony, acrylic painting by Emma Hill***

After a year of thinking about it, I put myself out there on IGTV. I’ve been vulnerable and honest and initially it felt awful, so awkward, but I got over myself by thinking people will either listen or not, but someone might connect with what I’m saying and it was great, I received such a positive response.

What are you working on now?

This year, 2021 creatively, I’m very excited. I have a new range of limited edition Love Heart prints and hope to extend my print and product range. I also look forward to getting involved with new ventures and collaborations. One already in progress is with Bombette, a slow fashion brand, creating environmentally conscious clothing for well-being. I continue working on projects with ARTHOUSE Unlimited, either in their studio or remotely, focusing on art and inclusion.

For my own painting, I continue to create abstract pictures, intuitively. I am also exploring themes to paint pictures in response to people and places to compliment my Artist Journal: Art Culture Vulture, 2000-02, continuing the conversation in Art Seeker Stories from back then, incorporating new stories today, although I’m not sure which direction this will take me.

Most of all, I’m very excited to be doing all I can to produce a podcast for Art Seeker Stories which puts everything together -- my experiences, writing and art on a platform where I can share my own -- and other artist and creative’s stories. In 2020 after 8 years in storage, I re-read my diary. What interested me back in my travelling days was how art became a universal language, communicating cultural diversity and differences without the barriers of speech and geographical borders. Art united people while sharing new, rich perspectives, I'd be in Thailand and they'd be promoting art from Finland, or I'd be in Brazil looking at art about the arctic, as completely different cultures promoted each other, educating and sharing an insight into their world, it felt like a network of people communicating and understanding each other’s cultures, and it was all through art. I found my purpose, in simply continuing this conversation, bringing into it all I’ve learnt since.

Sharing stories to inspire others, to give a sense of unity, belonging and community, expressing individuality, diversity and inclusion. Sharing Love With HeArt.

You can follow Emma Hill on Instagram @Emma.Hill_Art.

Emma Hill