Crow in the Mist New oil painting

“Crow in the mist” by Hilary J. England, 12” x 16” oil on canvas 

I was out walking along in the cold damp fog the day before the big snow, and I came upon this solitary crow sitting quietly on the railing — this bird looked so curious and peaceful, I was curious about it and watched it for a bit before it flew off.  I had been feeling very disengaged lately, with the solitude and isolation of the past 9 months starting to creep into my psyche.  I’m a solitary person by nature, but the rest of the world being solitary for so long is disconcerting after a while, even to solitary people like me.  

Then I saw this crow — large, calm and peaceful, just on the rails ahead of me.  I stopped a little distance from it, not wanting to disturb it.  The bird sat very quietly, almost contemplatively, in the heavy mist of the day.  It made me think of how so many other creatures endure the solitude of their own existences as well — and how outside of the kingdom of humans, that doesn’t seem to be an unusual thing.  I thought, if the crow can sit at peace by itself, for long stretches of time, so can I as a human.  That thought gave me a measure of peace as I walked along, after the bird had flown to it’s unknown destination.  

So, I went back to the quiet of my studio and thought of this bird, and remembered the feel of the fog, and the mist that gently would touch my skin, and just the quiet peace of that moment in the day, and created this painting.

~enjoy

“Crow in the mist” oil on canvas, 12” x 16” 

Cat on the wall over the Aegean New Artwork

“Cat on the wall over the Aegean” oil on canvas, 12” x 16” by Hilary J. England

Here is another painting I did in the series of paintings I am creating called “Mind Travels” — it is also based on my time in Santorini, Greece.  

It was so blue and bright, and there were lots of cats in the region of Oia, where the city was like another world, high above the Aegean Sea. The flowers there were so bright and fragrant, it was such an unforgettable place ❤ 

I love the recollection of my time there, the vibrancy of the landscape and the ethereal beauty of the city.

“Cat on the wall over the Aegean” oil on canvas, 12” x 16, by Hilary J. England

Enjoy! 😊 🖼 🎨 ❤️ 

Santorini dreaming

“Santorini Dreaming” oil on canvas, 12” x 16” by Hilary J. England

With the lockdowns not seemingly going anywhere soon, and the ability to travel severely inhibited, I’ve started dreaming of all the places I’ve visited in my life, and lately, my mind’s eye has been turning to Santorini, Greece, and the surreal beauty of it.  Since I can’t visit there, I’ve started painting these places, from my mind’s eye — what I remember, and how I see it now, in my memories.

I will continue to do a series of paintings from my memories of travel, all the beautiful and exotic places, and how I internalized them, the color, the feelings, and what stuck out to me.

This is the first one I finished:

“Santorini Dreaming” 

~Enjoy ♥️ 

The Story behind the Art: Sunset at Summer Lake

"Sunset at Summer Lake" oil on canvas by Hilary J. England

My inspiration behind this painting is similar to what inspires me as a whole -- the beauty of the moment and the happiness behind watching the fading, warm summer evening, the warmth on my face, the sight of the colorful wildflowers on the banks of the lake as the sun cast it's fading rays in hues of pinks and purples and yellows...I am a big fan of Mother Nature!

I love these "mundane" moments in life - the simple pleasures of a beautiful evening, laughing with people you love, the sound of a favorite song you recollect from the past, the taste of a dish of food made with care -- all of these happy simplicities stir my soul and inform my choices for artworks that move me.  I love to share those moments -- to capture and keep them, they are interesting and beautiful, and they speak of the times we live in. Things around us can be chaotic, but we can choose to exist in a universe of beauty and serenity.

 

Scales and practice

As artists, we don’t talk much about the unglamorous side of things, such as looking to continually improve our skills and grow, because like all things, if you just continue to do what you always do, you begin to stagnate.  It’s important to continue honing our skills and stretching ourselves to new limits, not just in the physical realm, but also in the spiritual, mental, and artistic areas.

I enjoy learning and there is a certain comfort in discomfort, at least for me.  The discomfort lets me know I’m growing — even if I growl at the process.  It forces me to slow down — and true to my generation — I like things FAST.  Exercises force me to take stock, to see, and yes, to struggle through problems and learn new solutions.  So, I continue to do these exercises because they are an integral part to who I am and what I’m growing toward — and we never stop growing, until the day we pass on...so keep going!!!

❤️ 🌸 

Light Space Time Gallery Exhibition

Honorable Mention

My artwork: “Between the Storms” has received an Honorable Mention in the Light, Space and Time Gallery’s Annual Landscape Exhibition.  According to the Gallery, they had 724 artists submit their works, and from that they narrowed it down to 50 artworks (mine being one).  They awarded mine an Honorable Mention — and I’m very humbled and honored to receive it!

I hope you all enjoy my artwork too — that’s the satisfaction in the creative process — yes, I love to paint, and would do so even if no one ever saw the artworks — but when people do, and it brings them joy and moments of happiness — that makes the creation process infinitely sweeter ♥️ 

Early Autumn

“Study of early autumn foliage” oil on canvas, 12” x 16” by Hilary J. England

It’s been a busy few days, and I like that. In the midst of the hustle and bustle, I was able to get a study in of some of the early fall foliage we are now experiencing. This is my favorite time of year — the colors never fail to disappoint!  I’m hoping to get more plein air painting done this week, before we lose our fall foliage.  The leaves turn so rapidly, and the romance is over in the blink of an eye...I definitely need to capture the romantic art of the autumn.

I saw the little bird in the thicket — so brown and understated, next to the green and now the reds and yellows of the season — and I thought, “This wonderful little bird, so humble — needed to be included.” So I did! That’s the great thing about painting your own world and your heart — you can include what you like, and throw away the rest.  Art is wonderful like that!

The Whys of My Art

Featured: “Between the Storms” by Hilary J. England

My inspiration for certain paintings

Often times, people want to know what is my inspiration for my artwork — is it preplanned, is it spontaneous, is it a feeling or a thought, or is it another artist from a bygone era? Actually, there are elements of all of the above! 

Many times, my mind will begin to focus on a group of thoughts and feelings that are related, and this will translate into an overarching idea for a group of paintings.  For me, most of everything, both visually and with my art — relates to the natural environment around me.  I constantly seek beauty in the visual, even in ugly subject matter or circumstances — because to me, above all, beauty is paramount. The world is both beautiful and terrible sometimes, but we can surmount all things if we focus on the beautiful.

Landscape paintings by famous artists

So many landscape painters that came before me — inspired me.  Of course, my personal favorite, my muse of sorts, was Vincent Van Gogh.  His paintings and how his emotionality translated into his landscapes, is the apex of artistic expression for me — I connect with his vision of this universe.  He is a kindred spirit on many artistic levels.  His painting, Starry Night, which can be viewed here  was always such a visceral look into his heart and mind.  He was both complex and yet, simple in his thoughts and vision for his art.  I adored that about him and his work.

As for me...

I strive to have the emotionality of my work connect with viewers as well.  I think in this world, as chaotic and overwhelming as it can be sometimes, we all need a restful place to regain our strength and optimism.  I look to create that with my artwork — a romantic artwork, a peaceful painting, a landscape of beauty and serenity — all of these are emotions I strive to communicate into my landscape art and still life paintings.

Landscape series

I have been creating a series of landscapes — oil paintings on wooden panels — inspired by my summer in the South — but also by the continued “lockdown” or whatever we are calling it these days...the isolation, the impingement, the confusion, and the passage of the old and familiar into something new and not altogether welcome.  

Here are the new additions to this landscape collections:

“Pink roof and wildflowers” Oil on wooden panel - 18” x 18”

“A whisper in time” Oil on wooden panel, 18” x 18”

“Road to the unknown” Oil on wooden panel, 18” x 18”

There will be at least another 7 paintings in this series, apart from these and the earlier painting recreated from my time in Tennessee.

These artworks are my way of sorting through this transition we are all going through this year, 2020, where so much has changed, and so much unhappiness was inflicted on us.  I feel my response is to reflect beauty through the challenging days we are in, and to cling to what is truthful and lovely.

Stormy Times

“Stormy day in the fields - Tennessee” oil on wooden panel, 18” x 18” by Hilary J. England

I painted an original study when I was in Tennessee a few weeks back.  It had been a strange and sad trip, born out of depression and desperation to escape the lockdown here in PA.  I had heard the restrictions were less down South — plus I had another reason to go down there — a love interest.  He and I were trying to make heads or tails of all the complications we were navigating over the last several months.  The little seedling of feelings that had been planted were now smothered with additional hurdles of pandemic pandemonium and our own fears and hang ups.  

The painting was born of all of that.  I had wandered in the fields, hot and sweaty and alone, chasing the years of my life.  What had brought me to this point? Time was no longer on my side, it seemed — the universe had caught us all.  I felt the long invisible arms of it reach in and break my heart, crush my soul — there is a lot of symbolism of this in my painting, even if you cannot see it — it’s there.  I sat in the field and cried, the heat the gnats sticking to my face.  For the first time in a very long time I felt defeated — that life had become pointless, why do we do the things we do? In the end — it’s all for nothing, it seemed.  But then, a small ray of sunlight, ever so faint, it was a glimmer — shone through the clouds of gray.  It warmed my heart, and just that little sunlight buoyed me up — we go on, until we are called away — off this planet.  It’s just what we do — in good times or in bad, we still go forward.  For some reason, that brought me comfort — and I felt at peace.  

Now, that little piece of peace was immediately snatched away as I was walking back to the car with all my gear and dropped the painting face down into the dirt — obliterating it.  I was really angry now — it was if the dark forces of the universe had spit in my eye at that moment.  I got back to my apartment and brooded about this, but refused to throw the painting away.

A week later, I left the South, earlier than planned, realizing we cannot run away from our problems, or avoid them.  Everything had sorted itself and I went back home with renewed gratitude for my own life in the North, but still the ruined painting bothered me — the symbolism of it.  So I decided not only was I going to resurrect it — I was going to recreate it — even bigger and better than it had been before! And so, I did.  

Carry on- Beginning Life in Lockdown

“Study of dramatic back lighting” oil on wooden panel, 16” x 16”

Strange Times

Beginning Life in Pandemic Lockdown

Life in the lockdown is largely as it was for me before -- wake up, do some work, work out, studio time/plein air time, family time, meals...rinse, repeat.  But, there is a certain odd feeling about everything now -- a feeling of heaviness and uncertainty hangs above everything -- as if you are waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I walked out to the market the other day -- it was right after the lockdown began.  There was such a strange energy in the air -- a sense of foreboding and panic.  The streets were empty.  Here and there, a person hurried by -- head down, fearful.  It felt surreal -- as if I would hear nuclear warning sirens go off in the distance.  The feeling was not a pleasant one.

Just two nights before -- we had celebrated the "end of the world as we know it" at our local restaurant.  That afternoon, my son came over and said, "Do you see what's going on?" To be honest, I hadn't been paying much attention.  My sister had called me from Philadelphia, fuming, saying, "The crazy people have bought up all the milk, bread, and toilet paper!" I was seriously confused.  I said, "Are we going to have a snowstorm?" She laughed and said, "No! It's over the virus!"  What? What virus? That's about how much I was paying attention to that! But now, as he and I sat watching the developing events on the news, with alarm -- the runs on toilet paper and food, the hysteria, the States talking about quarantines, my son said to me, "Well, it seems that the world is going to end soon.  Let's go out to dinner and celebrate our life as it is, for one last time-- my treat!" And so we went.

We met up with my one daughter and her family and we all enjoyed a long, bittersweet, somewhat nervous last dinner in our favorite local spot.  We don't know how long *this* will last -- and we didn't know it then either...the restaurant owners are a sweet couple, and they quietly joined their diners in the revelry -- giving away free coffee and desserts to the scattering of patrons who braved the fear of "contamination" to come out and support them one last time.  And then, the next day -- everything closed.

I felt fear clutch at me.  The layoffs and the economic ruin that would ensue.  The panic and the pain of financial devastation -- plus the very real possibility of riots, looting, martial law.  The virus does not scare me.  I've lived through nearly fatal blood poisoning, a motorcycle accident that broke literally every bone in my body, and a host of lesser injuries and diseases through the 50 years I've been here.  I don't worry for my children either -- they are hearty and healthy -- or even for my Dad, who is severely immunocompromised with ongoing Stage IV leukemia.  His motto -- "No one gets out of this world alive.  Let's live!". My only fear is the unknown -- what does our country, and our world, look like after this "episode."

The anxiety of this took my breath away for the day after the lockdown.  I lay on my couch utterly paralyzed, watching old movies, eating sweets (a taboo in our house -- my son is a jiu jitzu pro) and trying to come to grips with everything.  I roused myself from the couch later that afternoon and headed to my studio, dazed, but forced myself to continue working.  And the next day.  And the next day.

And now...

Now that a week has passed, I feel cautiously "normal" again.  I will remain in my routine of continuing my work, and adjusting to this new normal.  I don't like the feeling of everything shut down, and our lives so limited, to be sure -- but I'm hoping this all ends sooner rather than later.  In the in-between, I can really focus on the projects so many other distractions of our previous life had carried me away from, and on my family and friends -- so every cloud does have a silver lining.

As a reality, this pandemic has made me even more determined to tap into myself and create romantic and serene works of art -- beauty, peace, and serenity -- I need that -- we need that -- more than ever now! So, that is my newly inspired vigor, my eternal Muse.

www.hilaryjengland.com

Studio work

Skillz

I have been concentrating on polishing my skills -- it's a yearly endeavor -- going back to basics -- like sharpening a knife. You can never hone your skills too much -- learning and refining are a never-ending, ongoing process.  It's like weight lifting and exercise -- if you stop, you get flabby.  That's how skills are with artists too.  

So, I've gone back to the beginning, and have no problems with doing so.  Monochrome value oil studies, and copies of the Master's -- like Waterhouse's "Lady of Shallot".  These types of exercises help to clean the vision and reinforce value, shapes, design.  I will continue at these for the next few weeks, as I have some bigger projects I will begin, and I want to be sure my skills are top-notch-- I want to be in the "best shape" possible!

And...

Stay tuned for new things to come! You can also check out my website "Happenings" page too for even more information about events and my upcoming travels--plus check out new prints for sale!

The Stone Cottage and Butterflies

Spring is coming! In the Northeast USA, it’s an exciting time to leave winter and see the flowers begin to break through the ground.

So, in light of that happy occasions, here is a little video story — regarding my oil painting, “The Stone Cottage and Butterflies”. I love all things beautiful and “magical” and mysterious— and the abandoned old stone cottage on the very edge of town was no exception. When the wildflowers arrive, the butterflies and bees flit about, in their own magical universe. It’s such a delightful and meditative place to just unburden your soul...I had to capture it! ❤️🖼

🌸 🦋 If you love a moment of tranquility, you can order your own custom art print at:

Visit my Gallery

lmVisit My Gallery

Sea Bird and Branches

"The sea bird and branches" by Hilary J. England
oil on canvas, 8" x 11"

The beginning of this year just seemed to fly by with a blur of trips and visits here and there -- Philadelphia, DC, New York ... this is both good and bad.  It's good because it's always nice to stay involved in things and visit with friends and family, but it's bad because it breaks my creative stride.  I need isolation and continuity when I am on a singularly creative path, and the last few weeks have been frustrating in that respect.

So, I decided to have some quiet time and revisit the happy places in my mind...the beach.  I thought back through the many beaches I have been to through the course of my life...I searched through old drawings, color studies, pictures, and notes.  I fixed upon this one thought -- I remembered a beautiful and fluffy looking egret sort of bird, sitting in the branches of some dead vegetation in the beautiful Caribbean sea when I was there years ago.  It was a quiet day, it wasn't hot, nor was it cold, but there was a very good breeze blowing, yet, this bird seemed very content and oblivious to all but the sun shining on its beak.  As you can dig by now -- I admire birds.  This one was no exception!

That's when I decided to tap into that nostalgic memory and paint this little painting.  It's funny how our experiences never leave us -- ever.  They can get filed away in the recesses of our mind, but one day, whether expressly called upon, or springing up unbidden -- they come back to color our lives.

~Enjoy!

P.S. -- the original oil is not for sale.  I decided last year that I will only be selling select oil paintings and keeping the originals for the time being.  But -- you can purchase a gorgeous museum-quality print through my website -- you get to choose the size, paper, framing, etc. and even see it on your own wall prior to purchase through my augmented reality function that allows you to see the finished product in your intended space -- so you know it's perfect!

Just pop on by:  www.hilaryjengland.com

Happy thoughts!

"Dragonfly in the purple flowers" oil on canvas, 7" x 14"

It's been a busy few days, as the new year seems to start off quickly, like a shot that starts a race.  Nola was born yesterday and in the in-between of it I've tried to take a few moment's breather.  I did a little painting the day before, as I'm starting to put together thoughts for several paintings for my ongoing series.  I began to think about things -- imaginations, and thoughts and emotions that can transcribe into my composition. This process usually requires a "limbering up" -- I like to let my mind roam a little freer than usual, and do some brainstorming -- I also do whatever I feel like, in terms of paintings and drawings.  This gets the "juices" flowing -- like a warm-up before a workout. 

I started thinking of spring and summer -- and the beautiful wildflowers that line the banks of the river that's just behind my house.  I would sit out on the retention wall that sits about 12 feet above the banks, and just watch the glorious kingdom of flowers and insects -- the bees, the butterflies, the many species of dragonflies.  I would sit, sometimes for an hour or so, and just watch them.  This little universe fascinated me, and I look forward to it this year as well.

Here is a little oil painting I did of that reminiscence -- just because I was musing and enjoying the memories of it.  When I work, I like to pull on memories of many things, and this memory was a happy, calming one -- a memory of contentment and happiness in a seemingly simple view.

Enjoy! 

New Year 2020!

Hello friends! I’m back! 😁 I hope you all had a very nice holiday and are looking forward to this new year with 2020 vision! 😉

I am hitting the ground running, and here is a collective online exhibition, entitled “Winter” through the Envision Gallery that I have two small oil artworks in.

✅Check it out! ❤️❤️❤️

 https://www.envisionartshow.com/winter

Pop on by and check it out! There is some very nice art from a variety of other artist skillfully depicting their visions of winter as well!