Saint-Apollinaire France IPhone 14 Pro, Jul 2024
beginnings in photography areunfortunately lost to time but what I doknow of it is that he caught the bug fromhis father. He attended some photographyclasses in college and was snapping eversince. My grandfather I can only assumebecame interested in it as he was travelingthe world in the Navy. It’s fascinating tolook at his slides and negatives because somuch has changed, cars, clothing, culture,houses, everything except dirty dishes,they have apparently remained the sameas has the distaste for doing them as well. Istarted off with a Playschool plasticcamera and I’m sure I tagged along withmy dad and grandfather taking “pictures.”At some point, I was upgraded to a camerathat had film with it. A real treat when Iwas a youngster was that I would get touse either one of my father’s multipleChris Zuber scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLandCinnamon Beach St John USVI, Olympus OM-1 12-50mm , Jul 2022
cameras or one of my grandfather’scameras that day. My son got started withone of my Olympus Tough cameras.Resistant to young boys destructivepowers it was really fascinating to seewhat things he would photograph. Alongthe way I too would occasionally put oneof my cameras into his hands and let himshoot with it for the day. In my day weshot film and our final image may not beseen for weeks after we took the picture.In my sons time, we could push thebutton on the back of a camera and seethe image we just took checking forcomposition and ensuring we got thebasics of the image that we were after.My son Luke’s photographs were relatedto what he was interested in or things hewas doing with friends, just like myself asscapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special EditionSnails Pace, Giverny France, iPhone 14 Pro, Jul 2024
Tree Tunnel, Cereste France, Olympus OM-1 40-150mm , Jul 2024
a teen but with instagram and posting hispictures to music with lyrics. Hischallenges with photographing sports forthe school yearbook were learning to takeaction shots and going out on the footballfield together. Talking about how to notget hit in the action and to always beaware. One of the television camera crewactually got hit in one of our games and itmade a lasting impression on him after Ihad already given him my advice in thatarea. He had to learn how to make sure hisshots were crisp and clear for big eventsand learn how to edit for clarity and lightcorrection. His photographs for personaluse are very different than the ones heshot for yearbook. But similar is themoody teen angst photography I shot,only his are posted on social media whilemine are scanned and on the cloud.We could never do that with film. Theother thing that is different is how mucheasier it is to change the crop, colors, andluminance. We could do this before in thedarkroom but now with the ease of digitalwhen it comes to editing photographs youcan use several layers and differentopacities to achieve the look that you areafter. All this aside it really thrills me to noend that my son has taken tophotography. There’s something magicalabout sharing my love of photographywith him.How do you consider the nature of yourrelationship with your audience? As artmoves increasingly from traditionalgallery spaces to the street and especiallyscapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special Edition
Chris Zuber scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLandCastle Space, Montmajour Abbey, Arles France, Olympus OM-1 12-40mm , Jul 2024
scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special EditionIce Crystal, Hillsboro Or, Olympus E-pm2 30mm , Mar 2019
to online platforms such as Instagram, howdo you think the relationship with aglobalized audience might change?Furthermore, how do you envision the roleof physical exhibitions versus onlinepresentations in showcasing art?Chris Zuber: I think about my audience a lot Iaspire to present works that are meaningful,insightful and are a delight to the eye.Traditional spaces like galleries are still ruledby juried review. As is public art; however,new materials and printing techniques havemade it possible for one to print large scaleimages at a reasonable cost with greatdurability. Perhaps, with a bit more of out ofthe frame thinking, we will see morephotographic works included in outdoorspaces around our cities. Online galleriespresent a unique space that feels new to meand yet a bit old school. I often find myselfquestioning the views and traffic that theyreceive but it’s still exciting because youraudience is potentially the whole world. Socialmedia is much the same way but rather thanjuried panelists it’s governed by algorithms.Sometimes I’ll try out new images onInstagram to see how they are received orliked, the nice thing about these services isthat you can delete it, unlike the otherlocations if they are not well received. Forbetter or for worse, it is what it is and a greatnumber of my artist friends feel the same as Ido. The recent changes to the algorithms arenot in the best interest of still image artists ofany kind. Long gone is a photography websitethat was actually constructively useful calledPhotoSig where we would post our photosand receive constructive comments from ourscapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWChris Zuber Land
Lavender Field, Aubignosc France, Olympus OM-1 40-150mm , Jul 2024
fellow viewers not just likes or reposts. Ifanyone knows of such site, I would bedelighted to try it out. All in all I think thatall of these different venues will remainthe same as they are now. Styles andtastes wax and wane as they always havebut connecting with your audiencethrough composition, light, and depth offield will remain timeless. I also think thatif one is to be taken seriously as an artistnowadays one simply must have somesort of web presence. I currently haveheartshotphotography.com where Ioccasionally make blog posts as well assell a number of my images in manydifferent mediums and formats. You canfind me on Insta at@heartshot_photography [email protected]. I’m also on Pinterest atHeartshotPhotography Please come takea look at what I have been up to and feelfree to drop me a note.We have really appreciated themultifaceted nature of your artisticresearch and before leaving thisstimulating conversation we would liketo thank you for chatting with us and forsharing your thoughts, Chris. Whatprojects are you currently working on,and what are some of the ideas that youhope to explore in the future?Chris Zuber: Thank you very much for theopportunity, I feel very honored to havebeen chosen and asked so manythoughtful questions from your team.Currently I’m in the south of France at anartist residency in small village.scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special Edition
Chris Zuber scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLandYaquina Head Lighthouse, Lincoln County Or, Olympus OM-1 40-150mm , Nov 2023
Rust Monster, Astoria Oregon, Olympus OM-1 40-150mm , circa 2022
scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special EditionSkywalk, Painted Hills Or, Olympus OM-1 12-40mm , Oct 2023
Contemplating and photographing the Frenchcountryside has been tough as so many prettylandscapes at every turn. However, I havemanaged in the weeks I have been here inBeaumont de Pertuis, France at La Maison deBeaumont to capture the trifecta of flowers:poppies, lavender and sunflowers. It hasbeen a real treat for Triesta and I. We alsohave an outdoor two sided photographicinstallation in ACM (aluminum compositematerial) in Oregon upon our return whichwill be featured for two years in the City ofLake Oswego. I would welcome theopportunity to work with anyone seekinglarge scale art installations indoor or outdoor.I have a number of great mixed media ideasthat incorporate photography into them thatI’ll be experimenting with when I return hometo the greater Portland area. I’ve been alsoexperimenting with putting my own spin onclassical images, to create some new mixedmedia works merging old world and newworld techniques.scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWChris Zuber LandAn interview by Josh Ryder, curatorand Melissa C. Hilborn, [email protected]
Hello Nicola and welcome to LandEscape.Before starting to elaborate about yourartistic production we would like to invite ourreaders to visit https://nicolahill.net In orderto get a wide idea about your practice wewould start this interview with a couple ofquestions about your background. We're trulyimpressed with your late blooming as an artist.Could you delve a bit deeper into how yourrich tapestry of life experiences — perhapsyour time in journalism, your years fosteringchildren, or even your earlier academicI am a 57-year-old emerging artist – you may think that’s a bit late to emerge but why not? Whatstarted out as a challenge and a way of connecting with family and friends during lockdown has turnedinto a passion, leading to me producing a wide range of art and participating in four exhibitions sinceApril this year. I was thrilled to have a piece selected for the prestigious Chelsea Art Society SummerExhibition where my artwork sold.I find art totally absorbs my mind as I try to capture a likeness of a famous person, connect emotionallyto portray a family member or experiment with different media to depict a landscape. I am delighted thatsomething I turned to for my mental health has now become a major part of my life, combined withcreative and non-fiction writing.In my twenties and thirties, I took the odd art course and tried to learn from books and videos when timeallowed. On holiday in France, I took a one-day class, led by an 80-year-old artist speaking rapidly inFrench. I thought I was doing quite well until he grabbed the paint brush from me to daub muddy greenpaint on my very yellow lemon in a still life of fruit and jug. A bit traumatising but he was right ofcourse – perhaps not in his teaching method but certainly in his use of colour.An interview by Ralph Landau, curatorand Melissa C. Hilborn, [email protected] scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLandEscape meetsNicola Hill@nicolawadehill
The lake at Wisley
pursuits — have shaped your artisticperspective? We're particularly keen tounderstand how these experiences mightinfluence your choice of subjects, youremotional connection to your work, oreven your technical approach to artmaking. Do you find, for instance, thatyour background in social psychologyoffers you a unique lens through which toview and depict your subjects, especially inportraiture?Nicola Hill: I loved art as a youngster butwas discouraged from continuing beyondthe second year of senior school – eventhough I came third in the end of yearcompetition! I was told it wasn’t academicenough and would take up too much time.How I wish I had stamped my foot andinsisted on studying art. Instead, I took adegree in Social Psychology at the LondonSchool of Economics and carved out acareer in journalism, mainly working in thecharity sector. My work often involvedinterviewing people for articles and casestudies, from ex-prisoners trying to reduceoffending, to chief executives runningmajor charities, to cabinet ministersdeciding on policy. I was always interestedin how the photographers tried to capturethe visual aspect of the interviewees’ lives,while I told the story in writing. It’s notsurprising that portraiture was the firstartistic endeavour I tried when I turned toart during lockdown. A friend and I metonline once a week and challenged eachother to sketch a famous person. I alsoextended this idea to bring my mother,aunt and a friend together for some sketchand chat sessions. Since these earlyattempts, I have developed my artisticpractice and painted portraits of famouspeople as well as family members. This givesme a strong feeling of connection with thepeople, while I try to convey a likeness and asense of their character. One example istrying to catch the young love and vitality ofmy foster daughter and her boyfriend.In 2010, my partner, Laura, and I decided tofoster two children when they were aged 11and 7. As you can imagine, this took up a lotof time and energy but was very rewarding –I tried to encourage their creativity with artsand crafts sessions on the dining table. Theyare now 25 and 21 and live independently –the older one is working as a primary schoolteacher and the younger is going to studyJapanese and Music at London University.Now I see the next stage of life as time todevelop my own creativity. I am a latebloomer but have exhibited work four timessince April this year, including selling twopieces at an exhibition in Provence and onepiece at the Chelsea Art Society SummerExhibition.The body of works that we have selected forthis special edition of LandEscape has atonce captured our attention for yourinnovative use of negative space painting inyour Wisley RHS Gardens lake piece. Theway you create your artworks seems to be athoughtful process. We're especiallyinterested in your technique. Could youwalk us through your creative process, fromconception to completion?Nicola Hill: In terms of landscapes, I like towander around local areas, such as LloydNicola Hill scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand
Park and Epping Forest in London, in theSurrey Hills and Wisley Gardens, or furtherafield on my travels in France. I sketch andtake photographs and then usually paintfrom the photographs in my studio inLondon. I sometimes use an app calledNotanizer or a black and white filter tounderstand the tonal values. It partlydepends on my mood but also myassessment of the subject matter as towhether I choose oil, watercolour or pastel.If it’s watercolour, I often do a sketch in penfirst or if it’s oil I might use charcoal, just toget the outline and a sense of perspective. IfI’m using oil, I often apply the paint with acloth to create a smooth swirl of paint.Obviously, for detail such as eyes or petals, Iuse brushes.When I have finished an oil painting, I use upthe excess paint from my palette to create aground for other paintings, usually coveringtwo or three new canvases by thinning thepaint to make it spread evenly. This meansno paint is wasted, it often creates a strongbase to work on and avoids the white of thecanvas showing through.I usually choose a ground that suits thesubject matter – this can be a contrast, forexample, a green ground as a base for fleshtones. In the Lake at Wisley, the groundalready on the canvas was a pinkish orangecolour, which suited the effect I wanted tocreate of the autumn colours at sunset. Iused negative painting to create the treesand the reflection in the water, so I paintedthe blue of the sky, cutting in with a thinbrush to create the shape of the tree. I likethe concept that stems from Fauvism of notscapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special Edition
Nicola Hill scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLandLake
scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special Editionpoppies
Nicola Hill scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLandtrying to replicate exact colours but usingcolours that reflect your mood. I also appliedthis technique to the cityscape from mybedroom window – the blue was the groundon the prepared canvas, which provided agreat contrast to the dark colour of thebuildings.Whether delicate and nuanced as in Lac deSainte Croix, or intense and poetic as inPoppies, the tones in your paintings seem tobe meticulously balanced to create tensionand dynamics. How does your ownpsychological make-up influence the nuancesof colour that you choose to include in yourworks?Nicola Hill: My psychological make-up canvary, according to how confident I am feelingand the impact of people around me. Manypeople think I’m quiet and shy at first, but Ican also be flamboyant. I am naturallyintrovert but become more extrovert when Iam in familiar, comfortable surroundings. Ithink this is reflected in my choice of colours,sometimes using muted, calm hues and atother times strong contrasts. The Lac deSainte Croix is one of my favourite places inthe world. It’s a freshwater lake flowing fromthe Gorges du Verdon. It’s surrounded by theProvençal rocky landscape and pine trees. Themineral water in the lake changes colour froma turquoise in bright sunshine to a mutedbrown in stormy weather. I try to capturethese changes in my paintings.Poppies are one of my favourite flowers,obviously symbolising wartime remembrance.As wildflowers, they pop up on the side of theroad or in the middle of fields, often in
scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special Editiondramatic clusters. I like their untamed nature,delicate petals and bold colours. I tried tocapture this drama with the strong contrastsof green and red.Your artistic process seems to involve aphysical engagement with the landscapesthat you paint. How do you select thelocations for your artistic explorations?Lac de Sainte-Croix
Nicola Hill: I like to record the changingseasons and effects of weather on thelandscape, so visit places at different times ofyear sketching and taking photographs.I enjoy travelling in my campervan and havebeen on road trips to Scotland and throughEurope. Water is often a key attractionbecause of the beauty of reflections. I wasNicola Hill scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand
recently entranced by the aqua blue riverrushing through the Soca valley and themisty early mornings on Lake Bohinj inSlovenia.We are fascinated by your resourcefulmethod of repurposing materials,particularly your technique of using excesspaint as ground for new works. ThisscapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special EditionBauduen and the Lac de Sainte-Croix
approach not only contributes to the visualappeal of your paintings but also imbuesthem with a unique story and eco-friendlyethos. Could you elaborate on how thispractice began? We're quite intrigued toknow if it stemmed from a consciousdecision to reduce waste, a happy accident, orperhaps a bit of both. Moreover, how has thisNicola Hill scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand
method evolved over time?Nicola Hill: I hate wasting paint both froman ecological and a financial perspective. Ipicked up this idea of using excess paintleft on the palette from a class with theartist, Lisa Ivory. Apparently, the artist ElGreco did the same thing. Sometimes, I justuse one colour and spread it evenly on thenext canvas or I mix all the colourstogether, add a little thinner and spreadthem with a cloth over the next canvas.This provides a muted ground, suitable as abase for most paintings. If there is enoughof one strong colour left over, for example,green or orange, I just use that so thatwhen I come to paint a face where greenor orange could make an interesting base, Ihave a readymade canvas. I have watchedvideos by the artist Jonathan Yeo, whouses strong background colours for hisportraits.On other occasions, for a landscape, Imight deliberately use up the paint inspecific areas, so a blue at the top for sky,green or brown at the bottom for land, anda yellow or pink in the middle. That’susually when I have a definite painting inmind.We're particularly intrigued by your use ofthe Zorn palette in creating Epping Forest.This limited colour scheme, famouslyemployed by the Swedish artist AndersZorn, is known for its ability to create aharmonious and naturalistic feel. We'd bekeen to hear what drew you toexperiment with the Zorn colours for thisparticular landscape. How did you find thescapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special Edition
scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWNicola Hill LandCotignac overview
The Ivy at the Chelsea Arts Society Summer Exhibition
scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special EditionAutumn colours - Epping Forest
process of capturing the nuances of EppingForest using only four colours?Nicola Hill: I was encouraged to try the Zornpalette by my teacher, Lisa Ivory. I like thechallenge of using a limited palette of YellowOchre, Ivory Black, Vermilion and TitaniumWhite. It’s amazing how many colours youcan generate from these four. This link givesyou a good idea of how to use the palette.Colour Mixing: Exploring the Zorn Palette -Jackson's Art Blog (jacksonsart.com).With this particular painting of Epping, Ithought the colours of the landscape wouldlend themselves well to the Zorn palette. Itmakes me think about the tonal differencesand how to achieve a proximity to thecolours in front of me, rather than justsearching for a green or orange in my paintbox. I also like to mix all four colourstogether and use this as a base. I then dip thebrush with an individual colour in the mix ofall four colours. This helps to create harmonyin the painting.Your work shows a fascinating blend ofImpressionist techniques with acontemporary twist. We're particularlyimpressed with this fusion. How do youbalance honouring your influences whilepushing the boundaries of your own artisticexpression?Nicola Hill: Thank you. I am influenced by theImpressionist painters, as I like their use ofcolour and lack of precision. Recently, I verymuch enjoyed encountering the work of theSlovenian impressionists including IvanGrohar, Rihard Jakopic and Matija Jama atNicola Hill scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand
Fireworks over London
the National Gallery in Ljubljana. I realisedthat my knowledge was limited to the usualgreats – Monet, Manet, Cezanne etc.I sometimes add my own twist, for example,initially drawing quite a precise composition,often with pen, but then being more liberalwith watercolour, sometimes using Brusho.We're particularly intrigued by yourexperimentation with Brusho: could youtell us more about your experience withthis crystallised watercolour? We'd bekeen to hear how you first encounteredBrusho and what drew you to explore it.We're especially interested in how youbalance the precision of line drawingswith the more spontaneous nature ofBrusho.Nicola Hill: I was first introduced to Brushoby my mother, Mim Kay, who is a keenwatercolour painter and runs the CotignacscapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special EditionGate and flowers Cotignac square
Easy Art Group. Brusho is a type ofwatercolour which comes in tubs ofcrystallised powdered pigment and generatesvibrant colours, especially turquoise, yellowand purple. This works particularly well forscenes under the strong Provençal sun. Forexample, I have used it for line drawings of asquare in Cotignac and a marine scene in PortGrimaud, generating a contrast between theprecise nature of the ink pen and thescapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWNicola Hill LandAutumn colours Hampstead
Rocky abstract
flamboyance of Brusho, which you can uselike normal watercolour or spritz with awater diffuser to spread the granules ofcrystallised paint. This more daringtechnique worked particularly well withmy depiction of the flower-clad IvyRestaurant in Chelsea, which sold recentlyat the prestigious Chelsea Arts SocietySummer Exhibition. It’s a risk, becauseonce you have spent the time on the linedrawing, if the spritzing goes wrong, youmight have to start again, or sell it as anabstract painting!We're quite impressed by the range ofsubjects in your portfolio, fromlandscapes to portraits of notable figureslike Malala Yousafzai, Morgan Freeman,Sir David Attenborough, and The Queen.Could you walk us through your approachto these different genres? We'reparticularly interested in how youprepare for each subject, and how yourprocess might vary. For instance, how doyou balance capturing the essence of awell-known figure with your own artisticinterpretation?Nicola Hill: Rather than going to artcollege, I decided to take classes anddirect my own learning through books andvideos, for example, videos on YouTubeand online lectures by Jonathan Yeo, theartist who recently completed a portraitof King Charles. In the last three years, Ihave attended courses in real life with theartists Lisa Ivory at Walthamstow AdultEducation Centre, Calvin Richards at theCandid Arts Trust, Ro Sylvester at City LitscapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special Edition
Nicola Hill scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLanddaisies
scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special EditionThe Yellow Brick Road
and Vincent Milne at the Mary Ward Centre inLondon. This has encouraged me to experimentwith different media including pastel, acrylic,pencil, charcoal, watercolour and oil, as well aspainting in different styles from portrait toabstract. The subject matter has ranged fromphotographs of landscapes, to still lifecompositions to live models. I also attend a weeklylife drawing session with the Walthamstow LifeDrawing group.I have enjoyed trying out a wide range of subjects.I was initially drawn to people and like to try tocapture a likeness because that’s always a test ifyou hold up the painting and ask someone toname the subject. I usually look at variousphotographs for my preparation and then use anamalgamation of images to generate my owndepiction of the person. I experimented more withDavid Attenborough, drawing animals and plantsaround him to symbolise his epic attempts to savethe planet. When it’s someone I know, forexample, my nephew, I painted him with aScottish beach behind him, as he loves surfing.We're curious about your involvement with theCotignac Easy Art Group in Provence. How hasparticipating in and exhibiting with thisinternational group influenced your work,particularly in terms of subject matter ortechnique? Has it provided you with newperspectives on the global art scene?Nicola Hill: My mother, Mim Kay, runs theCotignac Easy Art Group in Provence, setting aweekly challenge for fellow artists to paintwatercolours from two photographs. She emailsthe photographs, so sometimes I take up thechallenge at home in my studio. I also join thescapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWNicola Hill Land
port grimaud - strollers
group when I’m on holiday in France. The grouprecently held an exhibition where I displayedsome of my landscapes and still life paintingsand sold two pieces. I love the light and coloursof the landscapes in Provence.I recently went on a fabulous trip around Europevisiting churches and galleries in Ghent, Munich,Salzburg, Ljubljana and Padua. The Adoration ofthe Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck,which is the altarpiece at St Bavo’s Cathedral inGhent, is outstanding. It is identified by some asthe first major oil painting. As I mentioned, Ivery much enjoyed encountering the work ofthe Slovenian impressionists at the NationalGallery in Ljubljana. The galleries themselves inMunich are beautiful, let alone the art. I wouldalso highly recommend a visit to the Universityof Padua for the building and the art – withsome particularly interesting depictions of thehuman body. The pièce de résistance in Padua isthe Scrovegni Chapel painted by Giotto. I havealso become more aware of the global art scenethrough my teacher, Lisa Ivory, who exhibits allover the world. In fact, I recently bought one ofher pieces at an exhibition in Milan.How do you consider the nature of yourrelationship with your audience? As the moveof art from traditional gallery spaces, to streetand especially to online platforms — asInstagram — increases, how would in youropinion change the relationship with aglobalised audience and how do you envisionthe role of physical exhibitions versus onlinepresentations in showcasing your work?Nicola Hill: Initially, my audience consisted offamily and friends but thanks to Instagram,scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLand Special Edition
Nicola Hill scapeCONTEMPORARY ART REVIEWLandview from bedroom