Louise Hill

About the Artist

I was born in Kenya in 1964, and spent my childhood in Zimbabwe. I then moved to England with my family, where I successfully completed a 4-year Art degree course in England, and worked in London for 8 years doing book illustration. I feel most at home in Tanzania, where I regularly visited my father before moving to the country in 1995.

I paint mostly with watercolour, but also enjoy oil paints, both mediums befitting Tanzania's vivid light, the sun-bleached colours of its landscapes, and the distinctive fabrics worn by its people. My paintings are figurative but loosely defined. I paint on location if possible, but when my safari is over I return to my studio in Arusha and paint using sketches and photographs for reference.

Living in Tanzania, one is surrounded by an impressive variety of scenery; mountain forest; lowland acacia bush; tropical coastland; townspeople and bushpeople - all of these appear in my paintings. I treasure this country and feel constantly stimulated by every facet of life here, also taking a keen interest in environmental conservation activities.

Exhibitions