Bio

Hillary Stone was raised in the American South, a region rich in history and folklore. Since childhood, she has made art and held an interest in a variety of creative practices.  Much of her childhood was spent either indoors drawing or exploring the undeveloped natural wooded area behind her childhood home.  This unsupervised exploration was formative in triggering a connection with nature, the life cycle, and the inherent mysteriousness that childhood imagination evokes from such an environment. 

 

Hillary studied painting at Georgia State University and focused heavily on rendering over concept in her work.  There, she experimented with oil paints for the first time and found resonance in the fluidity and viscosity of the medium, allowing her to express movement and energy with realism.  Many years after college were spent exploring a range of subject matter and figure painting.

Like most people, she has experienced the death of loved ones and discovered that a lifelong familiarity and fascination with mortality has empowered her grieving and healing process; confronting the most distressing aspects of existence with curiosity instead of fear and avoidance. After surviving domestic violence within a years-long partnership, she began a journey in the study of women’s history and feminism as an aid to her regeneration and rebirth as a more grounded and resilient individual.  Much of her work since has centered around feminist ideas.  

Hillary opened a frame shop in Seattle and ran it for 10 years. During that time, she married and had children and took an extended hiatus from creating new work. She sold the shop in 2022 in order to relocate back to the south and refocus her artistic journey to pursue painting full-time. 

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