Hayley Hamilton

Hayley Hamilton attended Central St Martins School of Art in London. She emigrated to NZ in 1997 and have been a full time artist since 2001, running an open studio workshop, using clay, painting and a little commercial illustration. 

She considers herself to be an illustrator, a visual storyteller and a painter. After the practical restraints of using clay artistically for so many year she loves the freedom of painting. 

To paint has always been her treat, her indulgence, and an essential part of her creativity. She is striving for a connection with the viewer of her work. To tell a relatable story is her intrinsic goal. She mostly depicts people and animals to tell these tales. The ideas are constant, like a chatter in her head that she needs to pare back. She is inspired by everything and anything from Renaissance embroidery, the family dog asleep on his bed or the expression of a stranger. Through the chaos that this brings emerges the seed of an image that she then works on to become a painting.