Serene Studio with Andrew Hillhouse
Rebecca Jamieson Dwyer meets an artist who takes inspiration from nature, music and the stillness around him…
Name
Studio location
Eerwah Vale
Preferred Medium
Artist & Painter
How long have you been exploring art?
My favourite subject at school was art, and my parents indulged me by getting my paintings framed.
Later, my architecture course covered art history and art theory, and we did a lot of freehand drawing and even some sculpture and painting.
Tell us about your background and journey to becoming an artist…
The journey was briefly diverted into a career in architecture. Although much of architecture involves managing the delivery of complex buildings in a sometimes adversarial environment, many architects are ultimately searching for an expressive voice within the long tradition of the “mother of the arts”.
In that world, you absorb and respond to thousands of years of thinking about design, place and shelter. It has influenced the way I think about rhythm and space – and about how to work both within, and in opposition to, constraints and rules.
Moving to the Sunshine Coast provided more space for art and eventually a studio – the luxury of a dedicated space just for creating and experimenting.
Getting my studio was like turning on a large tap.
What inspires your work?
At the moment, the best inspiration is nature. Sitting for hours by Booloomba Creek, travelling to the Flinders Ranges, camping at Stradbroke Island and exploring the headlands and rock formations and listening to the curlews at night. Oddly, I’m not inspired by traffic infrastructure.
Tell us about your creative process…
I get impatient. My wife, Sarah, says I get a particular demeanour, then I disappear to the studio. Generally I just work intuitively and paint, and then look back later and see the connections to what might have inspired that weird process.
How did you create your studio?
My studio is a modest tin farm shed on our property that we renovated years ago for one of Sarah’s businesses, with a panoramic view down the valley towards Mt Cooroy. It’s separate from the house, and now has its own compound with a container for storage. It has exposed roof framing and we used the old roof for a ceiling when we rerooted it.
How do your surroundings influence your artwork?
There are so many birds creating this constant soundscape. There’s a strong connection to music with my work.
What’s your favourite thing about your space?
My favourite thing about my studio is that I have lots of room, I don’t need to put everything away as I go; I can work on a project over time, leave in the evening and come back in the morning and pick it up straight away.
I love that I can hang a series of paintings on the walls and sit on my old leather couch and contemplate them. I love having my own little kitchen and coffee machine.
Is there a particular time of day you feel most creative?
Morning either before anyone is up, or after everyone else has gone for the day
Do you have any rituals that help you find your flow?
Cleaning my pallet knives and brushes, and prepping the canvases the day before. I might spend a few hours getting paints out and thinking about which I want to work with before mixing them.
What do you do when you’ve got a creative block?
Take the dogs for a walk in the forest or go to the beach.
Most memorable moment in your studio/in your art career?
When the first person walked in on my first Noosa Open Studios on day one, walked over to a painting and said, “That one’s mine.”.
Three words to describe your studio & art?
Meditative, intuitive, resonating.
What’s currently taking shape in this space?
We are just back from a successful showing at Sydney Affordable Art Fair with Stevens Street Gallery in Yandina, and there are some commissions to fill and orders to process.
I also have work to do in preparation for an exhibition at Noosa Regional Gallery early next year.
What is your favourite medium?
I’m working in acrylics with an added gel medium that provides some viscosity and translucency.
What is your favourite Colour palette?
The colours that I use vary depending on where I’ve been in the natural world.
What is your favourite Tool?
My main tools are a bunch of pallet knives and silicone kitchen implements.
Where can people discover your work?
Follow me on Instagram @andrewhillhouseart and check out the Stevens Street Gallery online catalogue. And you’re always welcome to arrange a studio visit to check out what’s on the walls in person.
