Amanda Hill is an artist who lives in Portobello and works from her Edinburgh Palette studio at St Margaret’s House. She creates using acrylic and oil on canvas.
Recent paintings reflect feelings of displacement and isolation in light of social distancing. Amanda explores through facial expression as well as colour and texture which mimics connection.
Amanda has recently exhibited at the Velvet Easel Gallery, as part of their latest exhibition, sadly presently on hold due to current circumstances.
unusual structures and materials as a canvas for design. I am passionate about producing contemporary drawings and designs whilst keeping my practice environmentally sustainable where possible. My most regular commission work has focused on illustrating resources for outreach projects aimed at communities and young people, creating work for such clients as The National Galleries of Scotland and Dundee Heritage Trust.
newest studio in St Margaret’s House with two very close friends. Although the effects of the lock down have been tough, with reduced work and having to temporarily move out of Edinburgh to help family members, it has brought new opportunities for learning and development within my practice. I have used this time to create an online shop, work on personal projects, and slow down, taking more time with each of my ceramic pieces. I have begun to handbuild with clay which allows me to make larger and more experimental forms and I am keen to try more traditional techniques of firing when a kiln is not accessible. I am hopeful that by indulging in this time I will be able to apply new techniques and skills to my practice in the future.
‘From 2013 onwards I had begun to look for new landscapes to inspire me, my first explorations saw me seeking out more extreme landscapes. I had the good fortune to make two trips to the far north of Iceland , spending a month in Akureyri in September 2013 and April 2015 in Siglufjordur. The landscape of Iceland was a new and exciting challenge. The graphic rhythms of rock, ice and snow encouraged me into a period of experimentation. I found myself making works that were entirely found, not based on a source drawing, applying paint to boards until the appearance of an image seems to me to evoke a landscape. An amazing sea trip up the west coast of Iceland and as far north as Svalbard continued my encounters with snow, ice and water.
In 2015 I had my first solo show at the Doubtfire Gallery in Edinburgh. The landscapes reflected the trips to Iceland and the Artic but also paid homage to the Hebrides. However the seeds of change were planted and my next trip was to my home region of Northumberland to its softer, lusher valleys and moorland hills. It also marked a change in artistic direction, looking to line and shape rather than dramatic graphic depictions of light and shade. There was greater abstraction and a more controlled simplification of the subject. The images were found though a different approach. This led to a new successful exhibition at the Doubtfire in 2017.
