Progress 😊

Progress shot 3: adding glazes of color

Progress shot 2: developing further layers

Progress shot 1 : initial layers

I have been working on this new painting now between two other projects and although the progress has been slow, it’s getting there.

I decided to take a different approach with this painting— to start out with a grisaille design in gray scale and then build layers of glazed color, which is time consuming and different than I usually work, but thats what’s fun about painting— experimenting and trying new ways to work. 

Here are the first three progress shots of the painting, from grisaille to mid stage painting.

Adventures in Egypt Facebook Auctions!

Hello friends! As some of you know, I travel quite a bit, seeking out new cultures to explore and deriving a great deal of inspiration from painting on site in new landscapes. This process has a huge part in informing my work at every level, and while it can be stressful as well as exciting— it’s just an essential part of my art practice. 

I have a new travel coming up at the end of November — I will be traveling to explore the country of Egypt! 

With that exciting trip will come many exotic themes and possibilities, but, as with all travel— my expenses constantly creep upward, even when I’m going as I always go— very economically! 😁

So, starting on this Friday evening, September 20th, I will start my first of 4 private Art auctions here on Facebook just for my special friends here! I will be auctioning off four different original works of art in four different weekly auctions, for my friends here on Facebook —to have an exclusive chance to own piece of *original artwork* at a great price, and also to raise funds for my trip!

The link to the auction will be posted on Friday morning in a Facebook event announcement and the process will be simple— all you will need to do to bid is to post in the comments! I like to keep it simple for all of us 😊😊

I hope you will all participate and check back often to see if you are winning 😁 but also, to be part of my Adventure to Egypt!

Open expanses

“Study of clouds in September” oil on canvas, 8” x 11” by Hilary J. England

I painted this as my heart was in turmoil. Such a beautiful day, and yet, it weighed heavily on me. I thought back 18 years, to the horror of that day, and then I thought back 11 more...12 more...standing in the quiet of th office, looking out over the Manhattan landscape...the other buildings, the bay with the helicopters constantly engaged in a delicate dance of weaving about each other like moths at a lantern. I remembered occasionally stepping up into the long, elegant windows, and pressing my head to thick glass to look down and thrill myself. Many days, from the 92nd floor, I would see a cloud cover that settled around the midsection of the building like a fluffy belt. Other days, I would see tiny people as small as a swarm of ants milling about in the streets below, caught up in the hectic pace of the day and their daily lives, not knowing that a young girl was watching them with intense interest from above in a building on top of the world.

The days before and after September 11th always cause a flood of emotions for me, a mixture of nostalgia and pain, and force my mind back to my youth, which I suppose is a good thing. It reminds me of who I was. I have lost much of that person...so much. That is my ghost. I think if she and I were to cosmically meet, say, passing each other in some street, she would not recognize me, and I would weep at how distant we became. 

The landscape I sat in in this day was bright and clean and refreshing and perfect, but oddly sad and alone, dwarfed by the largeness of the universe. The one tree stood alone and resigned. Lonely? Not so much. Maybe indifferent, sad, thoughtful or resigned. 

These were my thoughts when I did this cloud study and the breezes blew by me and through me.

Indian summer at the dam

"Indian summer at the dam" by Hilary J. England, oil on canvas, 8" x 11"

It's been so warm and beautiful, the weather at this time of year is always a gift.  The late summer warmth mixed with the slight chill of the coming fall give a special feel to the days and nights, and the leaves are beginning to have their first tinge of yellow of some of their tips.  Fall foliage is certainly right around the corner.

I did this little oil painting study on a fine day, and its the type of painting I absolutely adore to do.  The process is so relaxing, and it always makes me so grateful just for the glorious weather and the beauty of the days and landscapes.

I hope you also enjoy these beautiful days! <3