Barry Hilton
There’s not been what you might call a plethora of famous people called Barry over the years once you’ve excluded the likes of Sheen, Chuckle, Manilow and White; but this name dystopia hasn’t stopped Barry Hilton from making a name for himself in the world of contemporary landscape art. Indeed, the sky has definitely been the limit for Mr Hilton in terms of his dramatic sky-filled illustrations which tick all the right boxes to his army of fans, providing those boxes compile as follows; 1. Hugely enigmatic skies graphically populated by an expanse of vivid colouration layered textures 2. Please see above. 3. As above x 4. Hilton’s oil and acrylic landscapes resonate with their dark and light contrasting, pictorially exploited in the most visceral and vibrant fashion possible, with particular emphasis placed on rapeseed depictions which pick out that effusive yellow and set it amid the backdrop of a black, stormy and swollen sky. Returning briefly to Barry’s name if you don’t mind though, and it truth be told it appears that it’s merely his stage name. Not the ‘Barry’ quota that is, more his surname, ‘Hilton’. According to sources his full name is Barry Hilton Pannell, however his agent suggested that he dropped the Pannell at the outset of his professional painting career. Monikers and humongously-imagined skies aside, THIS is what the critically acclaimed contemporary landscape artist is all about.
Born in Manchester in 1941, Hilton has now returned to his native Lancashire after a spending a chunk of his adult life living in Cornwall. In fact it wasn’t until Hilton had put down new roots on the South West coast that the idea of making a living from art ever dawned on him; and which coincided with a more maturing of years as well, let’s say. And that was because for a sizeable part of his working life, Hilton was employed in the chemical industry, holding down what he reflects on as a high flying yet stressful job and one which necessitated a lot of to’ing and fro’ing between the UK, Europe and North America as it turns out. Despite only returning to one of his first loves in later life, Hilton had shown all the signs of setting out to pursue a creative career having benefitted from formal training in design disciplines as part of his higher education. In the event Hilton studied for a BA (Hons) degree in Ceramics and Tableware Design and recalls that throughout his formative years being fascinated with art and design per se.
Musing over his recent award in the Best Newcomer category at the precocious age of 70 years young, the irony isn’t lost on Hilton; not bad acknowledgement for someone who as we said above first introduced paint to canvas whilst still wearing short trousers. The Lancastrian painter who left it increasingly late to turn professional, of course understands that because it’s the first time he’s been nominated by the industry-respected Fine Art Trade Guild he has no choice than to be nominated under the novice banner and has taken it all in good spirit; clearly chuffed that he’s been acknowledged for his vivacious and big impact landscapes for which he’s quickly become synonymous.
Going back to the catalyst for Hilton’s re-direction in life, and as hinted earlier it was during his time living in Cornwall that he has to thank for having such a profound effect on what remained of his creative career as he ushered in that exciting period of his life. Meeting and working in the close company of like-minded and extremely active artisans brought out the best in Hilton from the outset, and brought about an evolution in his own artistic abilities which had hitherto been put on hold for a number of years prior. Yet Hilton’s certainly making up for any perceived lost time and freely admits; “I just like to paint. That’s all I want to do”. And that’s a fact that’s certainly not lost on Hilton’s wife as he admits to being holed up in his studio space pretty much seven days a week, implying that it’s something akin to a compulsion these days. Hilton; “I’m extremely selfish” he says, before adding; “I’m very lucky to have a wife that understands; up to a point.”
But as we say, painting was always Hilton’s calling and when he was eventually presented with the opportunity to answer it he wasn’t likely to ignore it and spend the rest of his days regretting not going for it and forever asking himself, ‘what if?’ Not that everyone encouraged Hilton when he did finally arrive at this decision, as outside his nearest and dearest he remembers his then boss telling him that he’d never make a living from art. Clearly he’d never been privy to Hilton’s illustrative charms then by our reckoning. Irrespective of the few doom-mongers, Hilton did turn pro and didn’t look back, and - as his loyal followers, collectors and art critics alike would concur – he thoroughly deserves all the credit he now finds himself engulfed by. Hilton concedes that he’s no self-publicist and instead relies on others to help him get his work out there from a commercial perspective. Thankfully he got on board with one of the UK’s leading fine art publishers – Buckingham Fine Art – who deal with that side of things on his behalf, leaving Hilton himself to concentrate on the art of, well, his art. Buckingham Fine Art Managing Director, Ray Loud adds; “His landscapes are in such great demand that in just a few months we have sold everything and have a waiting list”.
Born in Manchester in 1941, Hilton has now returned to his native Lancashire after a spending a chunk of his adult life living in Cornwall. In fact it wasn’t until Hilton had put down new roots on the South West coast that the idea of making a living from art ever dawned on him; and which coincided with a more maturing of years as well, let’s say. And that was because for a sizeable part of his working life, Hilton was employed in the chemical industry, holding down what he reflects on as a high flying yet stressful job and one which necessitated a lot of to’ing and fro’ing between the UK, Europe and North America as it turns out. Despite only returning to one of his first loves in later life, Hilton had shown all the signs of setting out to pursue a creative career having benefitted from formal training in design disciplines as part of his higher education. In the event Hilton studied for a BA (Hons) degree in Ceramics and Tableware Design and recalls that throughout his formative years being fascinated with art and design per se.
Musing over his recent award in the Best Newcomer category at the precocious age of 70 years young, the irony isn’t lost on Hilton; not bad acknowledgement for someone who as we said above first introduced paint to canvas whilst still wearing short trousers. The Lancastrian painter who left it increasingly late to turn professional, of course understands that because it’s the first time he’s been nominated by the industry-respected Fine Art Trade Guild he has no choice than to be nominated under the novice banner and has taken it all in good spirit; clearly chuffed that he’s been acknowledged for his vivacious and big impact landscapes for which he’s quickly become synonymous.
Going back to the catalyst for Hilton’s re-direction in life, and as hinted earlier it was during his time living in Cornwall that he has to thank for having such a profound effect on what remained of his creative career as he ushered in that exciting period of his life. Meeting and working in the close company of like-minded and extremely active artisans brought out the best in Hilton from the outset, and brought about an evolution in his own artistic abilities which had hitherto been put on hold for a number of years prior. Yet Hilton’s certainly making up for any perceived lost time and freely admits; “I just like to paint. That’s all I want to do”. And that’s a fact that’s certainly not lost on Hilton’s wife as he admits to being holed up in his studio space pretty much seven days a week, implying that it’s something akin to a compulsion these days. Hilton; “I’m extremely selfish” he says, before adding; “I’m very lucky to have a wife that understands; up to a point.”
But as we say, painting was always Hilton’s calling and when he was eventually presented with the opportunity to answer it he wasn’t likely to ignore it and spend the rest of his days regretting not going for it and forever asking himself, ‘what if?’ Not that everyone encouraged Hilton when he did finally arrive at this decision, as outside his nearest and dearest he remembers his then boss telling him that he’d never make a living from art. Clearly he’d never been privy to Hilton’s illustrative charms then by our reckoning. Irrespective of the few doom-mongers, Hilton did turn pro and didn’t look back, and - as his loyal followers, collectors and art critics alike would concur – he thoroughly deserves all the credit he now finds himself engulfed by. Hilton concedes that he’s no self-publicist and instead relies on others to help him get his work out there from a commercial perspective. Thankfully he got on board with one of the UK’s leading fine art publishers – Buckingham Fine Art – who deal with that side of things on his behalf, leaving Hilton himself to concentrate on the art of, well, his art. Buckingham Fine Art Managing Director, Ray Loud adds; “His landscapes are in such great demand that in just a few months we have sold everything and have a waiting list”.