Ted Hillyer
The white surfboard 2005
61×50cm oil on canvas
$3,700
Ted Hillyer
A Feeling for Place: Mid North Coast Connections
21 February – 21 March 2026
A Feeling for Place: Mid North Coast Connections continues Bellingen painter Ted Hillyer’s life work of exploring poetic and imaginative motifs and themes, in close connection to his surrounding bush and coastal landscapes.
Hillyer’s collection of intimate works are relatable, from the sensuousness of bodysurfing or a siesta on the warm yellow beach sand, to youth playing around on a wooden jetty at a river pool, to the somber beauty of ancient eucalyptus against an intense blue sky, and to solitary self reflection with flowers in a kitchen window late at night.
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Angela Stretch
Arts Friday [Friday 13 March]
EASTSIDE FM
click here to listen
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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
