Bo Hilton

Bo Hilton, the son of the artists Roger and Rose Hilton, grew up in Botallack a small village near St Just.

A very exposed place to grow up, getting the full force of the Atlantic and at other times shrouded in mist for weeks, this has left its influence in that alot of his work starts out as a response to coastal walks.

‘Painting on the beach is quite challenging. The whole beach is moving constantly, the light is changing, and the tide is going in or out. People stand behind you, talk to you, brushes fall in the sand and there’s a cacophony of noise as people relax and have fun on their holiday.

Visually its fantastic. Looking into the afternoon or evening light, the primaries of the windbreaks blaze against the mid tone greys of the headland. It’s a constant challenge pitching the tone of the sky against the sparkle of light on the sea and the tone of the sand. 

Every mark is important in terms of weight and tone. Cool against warm, light against dark and the abstract quality underlying the figuration, of primaries against neutrals.

It is the necessity of speed in these paintings that hopefully gives then their energy and vibrancy of that moment in time. People relaxing in a heatwave, the beach packing up to go home, surfers walking by with their boards, Hilton has tried to capture this in this collection of work’.