Hilary Paynter is widely recognised as one of Britain's leading wood-engravers, and, through her involvement with the Society of Wood Engravers, currently as chairman, has made a significant contribution to the revival of interest in this exacting medium. This year she has three solo exhibitions in London, Edinburgh and at Art Matters in Tenby. Born in Dunfermline, Hilary spent much of her early life abroad, in China and Malta, and studied sculpture and wood-engraving at Portsmouth College of Art. After combining a career, in teaching and later as an educational psychologist, with intense and prolific wood engraving, Hilary is now a full-time artist, and organises the SWE's annual touring exhibition, other events and related publications. Her wood-engravings are held in many public collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), the Ashmolean (Oxford) and the Fitzwilliam (Cambridge), and in city galleries, including Birmingham, Hereford, Portsmouth and in the universities of London and Northumbria. Her work has featured in international print exhibitions in North and South America, The USSR, Australia, Sweden and Switzerland, and she has exhibited regularly with the Royal Society of Painters-Etchers, of which she is the honorary secretary. Hilary's subject matter ranges prodigiously through dramatic landscapes to domestic observations or acute socio-political comment that may be subtle, serious or fun. She has just completed a huge project in Newcastle, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Thomas Bewick, one of the greatest Northern artists. The occasion was marked by number of events including a commission for a contemporary artist to create a suite of wood-engravings reflecting the life of today and landscapes of the areas served by the Tyne and Wear Metro. The 14 images produced as wood-engravings have now been enlarged to two-metres tall and together measure over 22-metres long, set side by side in the city's Metro. Hilary Paynter's exhibition of 50 engravings includes landscapes from Skye to Caldey, townscapes from Newcastle to Tenby, references to the women at Greenham, the fences between neighbours, rebuilding Berlin, Crufts dog show, a child's bedroom, folded rock strata, nuns and rats. Especially engraved for this exhibition is 'Tenby', an aerial view of enormous complexity and detail, available in a limited edition and likely to become a collector's item. Hilary Paynter's exhibition of wood engravings, which has been organised to coincide with the Tenby Arts Festival, is at Art Matters Gallery, Tenby, until Friday, October 8. It can be viewed Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm. Hilary will be demonstrating her unique skills in the gallery on the final day of the exhibition.
