Hilary Manson
Maine Reflections
Exhibit Location: Stairwell Gallery
Notes: Hilary's paintings are for sale. Please stop by the reference desk for more information.
About Hillary and Her Work
Hillary Manson is a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer from Corinna, Maine. Hillary makes brightly colored, whimsical art that blends realistic details with exaggerated colors and abstract patterns. Her artwork is lively, often incorporating energetic swirls and dots. At the core of her work is her unique take on light and color as well as her love for nature. Her art is frequently inspired by local landscapes, flowers, mushrooms, and animals. Hillary attended the University of Maine from 2016 to 2020, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Studio Art and Art Education. During her sophomore year at UMaine she discovered her passion for painting when she took her first painting class. She began painting daily and has since been commissioned to create dozens of custom paintings. The subjects of her commissions range from portraits of people, to pets, to houses and nautical landscapes. For commission information email her at hillarymansonart@gmail.com.
Hillary works out of her home studio in Guilford, Maine in addition to traveling to art fairs around the state such as the Bangor Harvest festival, the Bangor Mall Craft Fair and the Common Ground Fair. As a vendor, she sells original paintings and drawings as well as prints and stickers of her work. In 2023 Hillary launched her own website, hillarymansonart.com to sell directly to consumers as well as wholesale to businesses. Her botanical mushroom stickers were recently featured at stores such as Brewer’s Tiller & Rye. Hillary also recently began working as a graphic designer for Bangor Letter Shop.
Maine Reflections is a series of eight oil paintings that Hillary started in 2020 inspired by the beauty of the Maine Coast. While Hillary has always loved the outdoors, her interest in the Down East Coast of Maine was sparked in 2016 when she met her husband James R. West. James is from Sorrento, Maine; a small fishing town across the bay from Bar Harbor. From the first time James brought her to visit Sorrento, Hillary was taken aback by sprawling seascape views, bustling wildlife, and the overall ambience of the town.
Her fascination with Sorrento’s charm has inspired her to take hundreds of photos of the town over the last seven years. Many of these photos she used as reference photos in her creation of Maine Reflections. In this series Hillary aimed to highlight several aspects of the town she derives inspiration from. She depicts scenes large and small from the magic of grand coastal landscapes to fleeting moments of beauty like a mother swimming with her ducklings, or a field bursting with Lupine. With this series, Hillary hopes to garner an appreciation for the natural beauty of the state of Maine and its wildlife. She feels lucky to live in a state with so much to offer and seeks to encourage others to revel in it as well.
Websites, Facebook, or other online places to find out more about you and your work:
hillarymansonart.com
https://www.facebook.com/
https://www.tiktok.com/@
instagram.com/hillarymansonart
