Artist Bio

Using acrylic paints, markers, inks, and cut paper from a collection of source materials, Skip Hill has produced a body of work that includes mixed-medium drawings, paintings on canvas and wood, mixed media collages on paper, children’s book illustrations, and large-scale interior and exterior murals.

Thematically poetic and subtlety narrative in content, Skip’s art is a visual journey through verdant gardens featuring feminine figures, flocks of birds, exotic fauna, mesmerizing moods, rich textures, and vivid colors of an imagined environment he invites his audience to explore.

Skip’s art focuses on the beauty of composition, the exuberance of process, on positive and negative space, on contrasts of mood, colors, and flowing line work. Some of the most captivating parts of his mixed-media drawings are in the peripheral details sourced from art history, elements of folk art, tattoo-like expressive patterning, looping graphic lines, kinetic scribbling, Asian calligraphy, pop culture references, and African motifs.

Piece Description

“It took a number of years (and running into Thomas Hill at an art opening) before I made space in my schedule and circled back to the challenge of creating an art piece featuring the AAA valve,” Skip says.
“Starting with the size parameters and the angle of the AAA, I decided to center the valve in the environment of my familiar motifs of exotic birds and lush fauna. I typically work in a loose, expressionistic style, but I wanted the valve to be more realistically rendered in order to stand out against the rest of the painting’s elements. That took the most time to produce.
“Once I was satisfied with that process, it was a matter of finding the right composition and balance of imagery surrounding the AAA valve. I tried several variations of composition by moving the individual hand-cut collage of birds around the canvas. Though several compositions would have worked, at a certain point in the process the configuration you see in the finished piece just felt right. I am happy and proud that ‘A Beautiful Day’ is a part of the Kimray Visual Art Collection.”