Jenny's Profile

Carrick Exhibition Dec 2013

Jenny Hill – Mixed Media & Textile Artist
Locharburn, Central Otago

Her Journey
Jenny Hill is both a mixed media artist and co-owner of Locharburn Vineyard with
her husband, Chris. Living their long-held dream of owning and running their own
Central Otago vineyard, Jenny is taking this opportunity of a change in their life’s
direction to explore her creative passion for mixed media and textile artwork.
Following 16 years in business with her husband and raising their four children,
Jenny attended the Western Institute of Technology of Taranaki part time, from 2003 to 2006, to explore and expand her knowledge and skills on the subjects of colour theory, textile techniques, painting, drawing, design, photography, and fashion.

While delving into this exciting new world of textiles, Jenny discovered free machine embroidery and her ability to draw and create with the use of stitch. Combining this with her interest in photography, she also discovered her
talent for manipulating photos and expanded this to the printing of her digital images onto fabric to create some
fabulous pieces which communicated her ideas in a very textural and colourful way.

Jenny’s Inspiration
“The more you work, the more you learn, the more you imagine,
the more you create, the more you know your own voice.”
These words by Kathyanne White inspire Jenny as she continues her journey to express the way she sees the world and its mysteries in mixed media.
“The self-made tapestry of patterns formed in nature, the visual and microscopic life, inspires me. I want to expose a different view by enhancing the details of texture, line, pattern and colour. With these I strive to create imagery that highlights the unnoticed form,” says Jenny.
Four texture examples
               

              

    

The Process
Jenny’s process of exploration starts with her camera, capturing the detail that interests her. From this starting
point, Jenny develops her colourful concepts into dramatic collages crafted in paper and fabric.
Photographs, fabrics, threads, paper, recycled objects, acrylic paint and objects such as leaves, schist and wire are incorporated into Jenny’s work.
Jenny’s diverse collages are done with inspiring photos, paint and different papers. The mixed media textile work
she develops blends dyed and digital printed fabrics, free machine embroidery and embellishing techniques to
create her final pieces. These works can include painting, dyeing, stamping, screen-printing, mono printing and
various other inventive means of surface design.
“I want to keep pushing the boundaries as an artist.”

Textures of Locharburn
The Jenny Hill art work that appears on the Locharburn wine label was inspired by their beautiful Locharburn vineyard environment where she lives and works with her husband, Chris – living their dream.
“I tried to capture the grandeur of our stunning natural surroundings here in the Cromwell Basin of Central Otago – on a panoramic as well as intimate scale – wanting to communicate the wonderfully warm autumn colours and our love of our land and home,” says Jenny. “The vibrant warmth of the reds and yellows contrasts to the solidness of the schist and the vastness and solitude of the surrounding mountains. Like our Locharburn wines, this work is an expression of our terroir and the passion that compelled us to move here and settle to live our dream.”
Jenny’s mixed media work, Textures of Locharburn, was crafted and executed in acrylic paint and various mediums of schist, sand, vine leaves and tissue paper on canvas to deliver this beautiful, vibrant piece so true to Jenny & Chris’ inspiration.