Ted Hillyer
BELLINGER: BEACH AND BUSH
7 March – 1 April 2020
drinks 6pm Wednesday 11 March
Ted Hillyer BELLINGER: BEACH & BUSH from Robin Gibson on Vimeo.
Ted Hillyer was born in Campbelltown, NSW in 1936. He studied at the National Art School, East Sydney, from 1955 to 1959. In 1962, he and his wife, Kathy, settled in the Bellinger Valley. Both taught part-time to support his artistic pursuits.
Hillyer has created images of readily recognisable scenes of the region by using stylised forms, shapes and colour. These are connected by the interplay of light across the picture plane. His painting technique has been influenced by two North American regional artists, Edward Hopper and, to a lesser degree, Alex Colville. Studying Hopper helped Hillyer develop a way to incorporate the human presence in landscapes.
In this geometrically structured realistic technique, he has painted built and natural landscapes of this region. His body of work can be broadly grouped into three themes: the southern break wall and quarry in Coffs Harbour, swimming scenes of the Bellinger Valley, and natural landscapes of the Bellinger Valley and Glenreagh
Hillyer’s major aim in his painting is to portray the everyday joy and beauty of living in this area
- From the catalogue for Ted Hillyer’s survey exhibition at Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery
