I've recently joined the Friends of Biss Meadows and as a Wiltshire Artist and lecturer, I love to explore the ever changing face of the Wiltshire landscape which includes documenting the life around Biss Meadows.
Visiting a local park such as Biss Meadows is for me, an ideal way to build up a relationship with the life and landscape. Really looking and observing what is going on in that space is a rewarding experience and because it is so easily accessible means that I can visit regularly. I can see how seasonal changes are affecting the trees, plants and wildlife and find out what is growing in it and what is going on.
I was inspired to make this timed 'journey in the 'Autumn' by first taking digital images then creating paintings in gouache. I find this medium suits both flat motif & pattern and more detailed work as it can be over painted. The matt opaque surface has an agreeable quality which has a richness of pigment similar to tempera work.
I am planning several projects for the future which will include some sculpture and another long term project, led by the notion of 'Deep Mapping' Biss Meadows, visually and textually - which could take a long time!
'Deep Mapping' is defined as an intensive exploration which includes topographical information relating to the history of the landscape and researched based information from interviews which aim to provoke memory, reveal real stories, and discuss folklore.
It is a practical methodology which has been inspired by author William Least Heat-Moon who documented an account of the people of Chase County, Kansas in the book PrairyErth:A Deep Map (1991).
Jill Hillman is a Wiltshire Artist and lecturer who left a nursing career in order to concentrate on her creative studies. She recently gained an MA in Fine Art at the University of the West of England after many years of exhibiting work and lecturing in art & design. Her passion for art began at an early age and her portfolio goes back to the age of seven. The Colour Design Studio was begun in 2000 but is now called Wiltshire Art, as most of her work is inspired by the Wiltshire countryside.
See www.wiltshireart.com for further information.
