Meet Harlow Carr's new artist in residence who sold her first painting at 17

“I always wanted to be an artist from as far back as I can remember. I remember my first day at school and seeing my first easel, I just started painting and never looked back.”

At high school she studied Art at A Level before attending the then Jacob Kramer College, no Leeds Arts University, although for some reason she ended up on a graphic design course.

“I soon realised it wasn’t for me. I just couldn't get my head around all the briefs and logos. I should have studied fine art as all I really wanted to do was paint and draw,” she says. It was during this time that she actually sold her first painting at The Ilkley Art Show.

“The thought that someone actually wanted to pay for my artwork was a dream come true.”

But after leaving art college Hilary realised that to make a living out of being a professional artist was incredibly difficult.

“Unless you are in the top 10 per cent in the country it is virtually impossible to make a living out of being a professional artist.”

And so she got a job in ‘boring’ finance and fulfilled her passion for painting in her spare time.

It was only after she married and her husband earned enough to support them both that she became a professional artist.

She began her career as a watercolour landscape artist and now creates figurative and floral scenes in mainly oils and acrylics.

For a number of years she worked with Whitewell Galleries, which have galleries in Leeds and Harrogate, who helped frame, market and sell her paintings. “It allowed me to concentrate on the fine art side of things and not to have to worry about anything else.”

She works from a studio a t her Yorkshire home and has won numerous national awards including The Rexel Prize, The Daler-Rowney Award, The Clairefontaine Award and Best in Show at the Great North Art Show in 2018. She exhibited at the Carrousel du Louvre, Paris in 2017-2018, drawing inspiration from the capital for some of her work and has also painted in Venice, Italy.

Her work is now sold across the country through galleries and private and corporate collectors; the Halifax Building Society has a collection of 22 of her pieces.

She says she has always loved RHS Harlow Carr and exhibited her paintings for a number of year in the Bath House gallery there.

And so when a friend said they were looking for an artist in residence she jumped at the chance.

“I am truly delighted to have been given this opportunity to develop and showcase my work at RHS Harlow Carr. The garden offers such a beautiful and calming environment with some breath-taking views and I’m really looking forward to seeing where inspiration takes me over the course of the next year.’

Following in the footsteps of award winning artists Nel Whatmore and Anita Bowerman, the Artist in Residence programme will last a full year, culminating with an exhibition at the RHS Harlow Carr Flower Show 2023.

Throughout the year, Hilary will be onsite at the garden carrying out research and demonstrating her artistic practice at the garden, working closely with the team on site whilst also conversing with and informing the public about the role. A participatory programme will also be developed, including activities such as workshops, open studios, talks etc.. to help encourage visitors to use the gardens to inspire their own creative visions.

“I really want to run a workshop with young artists 16 - 18 to pass on my knowledge about what it is like to try to become a professional artist. I would also like to work with the eldelry and possibly those who are mobility and physically impaired.”

Hilary has run courses before in Snowdonia, Wales and in County Clare, Ireland and taught at the local primary school on a voluntary basis. She also volunteers at a local Nursing Home for the elderly and those with mobile impairment.

She says Monet is her great inspiration but more laterally has become increasingly interested the works of Lucien Freud

“I am inspired by all sorts of things, I went through a phase of painting Venetian scenes after a visit to Venice, and my paintings are mostly landscapes although they do sometimes include figures in them. I normally take photographs and do the odd sketch before going back to my studio to paint. However I am looking forward to painting en planaire (painting outside) when I am at Harlow Carr. Although I love working in oils I will probably work more in acrylics too as they dry quicker. I have also started working with a palette knife as well as brushes as I find it helps paintings become looser.”

A spokesman for Harlow Carr said: “People have long been inspired by nature as an impetus for creativity and wellbeing. The need to capture its form and beauty has been the pursuit of artists for centuries, and the Artist in Residence programme at Harlow Carr enables us to continue this tradition.

“Our residency programme has been running since 2017, allowing us to support and build a legacy of talented artists while giving them the freedom to explore and record the ever-changing landscape of the garden as it develops and grows over the years.”

For further information, visit https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr/artist-in-residenceTo see more of Hilary Burnett Cooper’s work visit her website https://hilaryburnettcooper.co.uk