Jos Hilliard (1945 - )

Born in Norfolk in 1945, Jos has lived all but the first two years of his life in Burry Port, Dyfed.  Married with one daughter, his residence stands close to his beloved Burry Estuary, looking over the Gower Peninsula and Carmarthen Bay. This area of outstanding natural beauty, with vast salt marshes, cockle beds, dunes, and silvery sands, bounded by the rolling hills of Carmarthenshire, provides both temporary and permanent home to a wide variety of work. 

For centuries the area has been inspirational to poets, notably Dylan Thomas in nearby Laugharne. This landscape has proved no less inspiring to Jos, who, since the age of 20 has showed an increasing determination to combine his love of the countryside and its associated pursuits, particularly angling and wildfowling, with an ambition to become a professional artist. That rare moment when the artist is able to capture the essence of the landscape and encapsulate it in a painting for posterity was his driving force.

He had been successful as a schoolboy artist, but left school to become an apprentice printer and other employment followed. Landscape painting was carried out in his leisure time. The public liked his work, but Jos wanted perfection. This naturally led to detailed study of the techniques utilised by the Old Masters. Many years study, particularly in the field of the miniaturist, led Jos to discover that by utilising their methods, especially that of special preparation of paper and panels, he could produce paintings of the luminosity and clarity which he knew his genre required. The later paintings reflect the mastery he has achieved, for they reveal a freshness in their varied approach to light with is rarely encountered in modern art.

When not engaged in his studio, exhibitions and Game Fairs, he regularly walks around his estuary, noting changes in the landscape, sketch pad and camera at the ready, gaining insights in ornithology, using his artists eye to capture nature's capricious nuances, which provide the hallmark of his creative style. 

Recent years spent shooting game birds in their natural habitat, including Scotland, has yielded a further rich harvest of experience, and these paintings have proved popular with an ever increasing number of discerning patrons.