York artist, Charley Hellier, grew up in Lancashire, but has lived in Yorkshire for over 20 years. Her atmospheric paintings are informed by her experience and surroundings and inspired by the many great artists she has admired since her early life.

 

“I paint in oils as I can continue to move and mould them over time, building things up and removing them, so the images evolve and change as does the landscape and sky. They’re portals into childhood places, scenes I love to walk within now, or purely worlds of the imagination. A lot of inspiration is drawn from the changeable, dramatic moorlands of North Yorkshire. Ongoing environmental themes intermingle with my love of history and philosophy, folklore and ancestry and the power of weather, particularly dynamic storms.

 

My current collection finds the storm quietened. It expresses sadness at the world, the climate crisis and the mess my poor children are set to inherit, through no fault of their own. The images themselves look innocent enough: scenes of nature and weather cycles, a friendly sun and happy flowers, or crunching snow underfoot. The fact is, I am protecting my children from the truth of it all by hiding it away. A mist obscures the distant horizon: we can’t see what dwells there any more than we can see what the future holds.”