Since childhood I've been fascinated by textures, colours and sounds in the landscape and by the play of light on foliage and water. When, one day, a roe deer wandered into the glade where I was sitting and began to calmly graze, I was hooked, on encounters with wild creatures and using whatever medium was to hand to convey their magical presence in the landscape. Later still, my work and my travels introduced me to even wilder places worldwide and I became interested in how the legacies of human hands interact with the natural world. I currently work mainly in watercolour, pastels and acrylic and am a little obsessed with skies.
My paintings reflect my passion for Scotland's wonderful wild landscapes, the creatures and habitats they protect and the rural buildings that man has created from natural materials that interact and add another dimension. The play of light, constantly-moving clouds, vivid colours and the juxtaposition of textures - all of these elements fascinate me.
'The Swimmer' by Hilary Parke 2017 Mixed Media
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Ever since I was given my first box of paints at the age of three I've been in love with painting. It was a hobby that went well with my other passion, for collecting absolutely everything to do with nature. Leaves, acorns, nuts, flowers, beetles and even slugs, all of which I sneaked into my bedroom so I could try and reproduce their likenesses on paper. My mother soon vetoed the creepy crawlies but to her credit was fairly tolerant of the reams of paper, wax crayons trodden into the carpet and general mayhem that accompanied my enthusiasm for art. My father was an engineering draughtsman and taught me, with great patience, all about perspective and how to use the many fascinating drawing instruments he had in his office. I was hooked! My career in education largely precluded time for creative endeavours but I'm now delighted to have got back to painting almost every day. |
I use mainly watercolour, inks and acrylic, though I experiment constantly with different materials. I love the play of light, the shifting hues and the many textures of wild scenery and I'm intrigued by the ways in which the built environment, in terms of old buildings, ruins, dykes and steadings, interacts with the natural landscape and imbues it with a sense of a different kind of history. I aim to convey the emotional impact of these, rather than to reproduce them in their minutiae. My subjects reflect my fascination with the wilder and most hidden corners of Scotland and the ways in which both animals and humans adapt to climate, weather and habitat in order to survive. Dumfries and Galloway, where I live, is an almost forgotten corner of Scotland where the range of landscapes and habitats is awe inspiring.
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Examples of my paintings can be seen in this site's Gallery, on my Facebook Page and on my Gallery Page at Thornhill Friday Art Club.
My Photography
Ever since the late eighties, when I lugged a heavy Pentax with a large telephoto lens around Nepal and came home with some surprisingly good shots of rhinos, Bengal tigers and crocodiles, I have been captivated by the desire to photograph landscapes, people and wildlife in a way that reflects the wonder and diversity of life on this planet.
Hector's Dolphins, NZ. ©H Parke 2001
Subsequent trips have produced both images and insights into how man and nature interact...and thrown up many questions. These Hector's Dolphins, for instance, are among the rarest cetaceans in the world and were photographed off the coast of South Island, New Zealand. They were interested in our boat and came over to investigate us. But did the presence of our vessel, and those of many other visitors, or the fact that we spent time in the water with them, disturb their feeding pattern or affect them adversely?
Nowadays I spend most of my time in the wilder parts of Scotland, where there are still many quiet and relatively unexplored corners. Whether on foot, by canoe or in my camper, I love bringing back images to turn into paintings. I'm a keen forager and often, at the end of the day, can be found cooking up whatever I've managed to find, on a campfire or in my campervan. When I can I also collect data about animal and plant species which hopefully will help to piece together the enormous jigsaw that helps us understand which species are threatened and how, which ones are on the move and why...and occasionally throws up a new or rare species that is cause for celebration.
Nowadays I spend most of my time in the wilder parts of Scotland, where there are still many quiet and relatively unexplored corners. Whether on foot, by canoe or in my camper, I love bringing back images to turn into paintings. I'm a keen forager and often, at the end of the day, can be found cooking up whatever I've managed to find, on a campfire or in my campervan. When I can I also collect data about animal and plant species which hopefully will help to piece together the enormous jigsaw that helps us understand which species are threatened and how, which ones are on the move and why...and occasionally throws up a new or rare species that is cause for celebration.
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