My practice is deeply rooted in a sense of time and place, and ponders upon the question, who am I? For over 40 years I lived fixed in one location, the home of my birth, Northern Ireland. There I was surrounded by family, and histories of people and land I knew over generations, all of which gave me a sense of identity and belonging - ‘being known’. But moving to another place interrupted that certainty, and shook the reality of who I was, leaving me with a constant yearning to find a space I’d call ‘home’. Our culture promotes flittering from one thing and one place to another, and this too encourages that sense of rootlessness. But slowing down, being still and noticing the sacred in the ordinary, breaks the cycle of restlessness, bringing a space inhabited by hope, peace, and joy. The visual enquiry of nature and my raw emotional response are expressed through the act of contemplative drawing, this later informs my larger scale studio paintings.
Cities are interesting places, full of diversity and difference, and it is here I have positioned myself for work and life. Living in the inner city does not always present an immediate source of calm nor sense of home. Its transient nature can easily enhance feelings of abandonment and displacement, but looking deeper, will unearth nature’s pillars of stability and prolonged presence. For nature has a resilience and optimism to flourish even in the harshest of environments, and it is this that I base my work upon. To sit with an ordinary little dandelion, to observe, draw and listen to its story might seem an aimless thing to do, but there is wisdom in its presence. Nature’s beauty has a way of bringing healing and restoration to the scarred and lost places of our lives. It is an interesting thing to consider how one’s inner landscape (the emotions, thoughts, stories we carry) can be understood, even transformed through our visual interaction with the outer landscape.
Artist Statement
ABOUT
Lorna Hamilton is a full-time professional artist having graduated from the University of Ulster, Belfast with BA in Fine Art. For over 25 years she earned her reputation as a highly accomplished realist painter, exhibiting across North America, UK, Ireland and China.
Tired with the pursuit of perfecting the realist technique, Lorna took a break from her art in 2016, to discover a different way of doing things. She was drawn back to creating through a sense of curiosity and play, finding joy in the process of making. Known for her skilled and confident application of rich harmonious colour and rhythmical compositions, Lorna often draws inspiration from outdoor sketching and spending time in nature. Lorna has an infectious love for colour and drawing and if you spend time with her, you are most likely to lift a paint brush or crayon!
BIO
1995 BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Ulster, Belfast
2022 Journey of Hope Alumni, Immersive leadership Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, St Ethelburga’s, London
Awards/Residencies
2023 Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year, Main Contestant
2023 Public Art Commission, N.Ireland
2023 Shackleton Residency Award, Falkland Islands
2022 Winner of Parker Harris Mentoring Award & exhibition award
2021 Best Abstract/interpretative painting in show, Artists for Conservation, Vancouver
2021 Finalist in BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year, London
2018 John Busby Drawing Bursary Award, Society of Wildlife Artists, London
2015 Featured artist in N.Ireland television production
2013 Invited artist for Scuba Dive Art Expedition to Cayman Islands, Artists for Conservation
2011 Master Artists Seminar, Cortes Island, Vancouver Island
2011 Featured artist in BBC Wild Week Live Television production: Live broadcast art demonstration
2008 Selected to represent front cover of Artists for Conservation Exhibition international showbook
2008 Featured artist in RTE Nationwide Television production, Ireland
Group Shows
2022 Harley Open, Harley Gallery, Wellbeck, Nottinghamshire
2022 TALP Open, Patchings Art Centre, Nottingham
2021 Waterston House, Aberlady, Scotland (3 person show)
2021 Nottingham City Artists Studio Exhibition, St Marys, Nottingham
2021 Artists for Conservation, Vancouver. (Virtual Exhibit)
2021 Finalist, David Shepherd Artist of the Year
2020 Artists for Conservation, Vancouver (Virtual Exhibit)
2019 Society of Wildlife Artists, Mall Galleries, London
2018 Society of Wildlife Artists, Mall Galleries, London
2017 Artists for Conservation, Marine Exhibition Tour in Florida & China
2017 Artists and Illustrators Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2009 Society of Animal Artists, Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure, Kansas,
2009 Artists for Conservation, Dunnegan Gallery of Art, MO, Ward Museum of Wildfowl, MD
2008 Birds in Art, Leigh Yawkey Musuem, Wisconsin
2008 Society of Animal Artists, The Neville Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin
2008 Artists for Conservation, The Art of Conservation, Hiram Blauvelt Museum, New Jersey, USA
2007 The Wildlife Experience, Parker, Denver, CO
Solo Exhibitions
2012 Solo exhibition, WWT Art gallery, N.Ireland
2010 Solo exhibition, WWT Art Gallery, N.Ireland
2000 N.Ireland Television personalities, sporting legends, business leaders and politicians
Significant Private & Public Collections
2008 Private collector of internationally recognised wildlife collection, New York (5 paintings)
2000 Ulster Museum, Belfast (4 paintings)
1997 Northern Ireland Civil Service, Belfast
1995 Northern Ireland Civil Service, Belfast