Hilly is an emerging artist based in Mandurah who works mainly in acrylics. Her abstract pieces are bold and vibrant inspired by nature. She loves to eperiment with different textures, lines and colour. She experiments with different size substrates; from very large to mini canvas. Each gives it’s own challenges.
She also enjoys painting outdoors ‘en plein air’ which has given her work a new dimension. “Painting outdoors and soaking in nature and the atmosphere of each location inspires and liberates me. It gives a renewed energy that also seeps back into my studio work”
Hilly was born in Holland and trained as a primary school teacher. After marrying Jos they moved to New Zealand. They had 4 children and Hilly was a fulltime mother. When the children were teenagers she took a job as a Library Assistant at the local library. Not until all their children had left home did she take up painting.
Her artist husband Jos Coufreur encouraged her to try and to her surprise she really enjoyed it and when she ‘found’ abstract she was hooked! When all their children starting moving one by one to Perth the couple decided to take the plunge and settle in WA. Hilly and her husband now live and work in picturesque Mandurah.
In Australia Hilly joined the Mandurah Plein Air Artists and in 2016 she was the artist in residence at Mandurah’s Contemporary Art Spaces. The residency gave her the opportunity to work on new ideas and experiment with different techniques and loosen her style. In September 2017 she had a succesful solo exhibition ‘Colours of Life’ as a culmination of her residency.
A selection of Hilly’s work
