| Frequently Asked Questions |
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Following is a list of the most frequent questions Hilary gets - if you have a question not addressed here, feel free to contact us, and perhaps your question will be added to the list... When is the studio open? We try to be open seven days a week – especially in the summer months, when Granville Island tends to be hopping. I am usually at the studio every weekday from 9 am onwards, even during the winter months. We are open at weekends 10 am 'til 5 pm, generally, with M.A. and I splitting the duties. However, sometimes I do take a day off – so if you are in doubt about whether the studio is going to be open when you plan to visit, please call us first. I try to leave opening hours messages on the answering machine if there are any changes. You don't have any originals on your website – why not? I am always working on new originals at the studio but it is difficult to put them up on the website (hopefully they don't hang around too long!) I usually have most of my new larger originals early in the year (in preparation for the following year's calendar) and in the Fall ready for my Winter shows. If you contact me I can send you photos of originals in progress and I am happy to field requests for particular subject matter (within reason, and with no guarantees!) I will always try to let you know which images I am currently working on in the blog on this site. Where are the prices? What size are your larger prints? All size specs are available on the comprehensive retail price list, which is available for download on the "Products and Prices" sidebar (look left and go to the bottom and look for "Latest Price List") or since you're here now, grab it here! If you're looking for the commission price list, you can find it on the commission page, or download it here. What is Giclee print? And I quote…"The term 'giclee print' connotes an elevation in printmaking technology. Images are generated from high resolution digital scans and printed with archival quality inks onto various substrates including canvas, fine art, and photo-base paper. The giclee printing process provides better color accuracy than other means of reproduction." -from the website GicleePrint.Net (click the link for far more information...) Do you sell your work anywhere else?
Yes – let's discuss it! You can send me photos of the subject you think will make a good painting and I'll chat with you about it. Please send as many shots as you have that show the details you need and detailed shots of anything which is particularly important (e.g. pets to be added, your favourite bush in the garden or whatever). Remember – although you may know your house really well, it's difficult for me when I haven't had a chance to see the subject in person. The more info you give me, the better! For pricing, please see the commission price page or download the price list here.
Yes – but never as the main focus. I tend to paint people where you would see people, but I am not a portrait painter and more often than not, the people in my work don't have faces, as they are not the focus.
Nothing too deep – I just wasn't great at drawing faces when I first started to paint and it became a habit to stop before I ruined a painting by adding a stupid face to one of the people in it. Children seem to really pick up on the fact that there are no faces.
I always wanted to be an architect but I wasn't dedicated enough to study the math component I needed to get in to architecture school. I guess my interest in buildings shows in my work – but I now realize that I just really wanted to draw for a living. M.A., who works with me in the studio, comes from an architectural background, and she assures me I got the better deal, doing this.
I miss my family – and I miss the huge variety of shades of green that appear in the English landscape palette, which are very different to those here. I miss the patchwork quilt of the English countryside. And I miss good custard.
My friends call it "Hilary Green" (my studio is actually painted in the Benjamin Moore colour called "Tequila Lime.") It is the colour which makes me most happy. I use yellow greens a lot in my paintings – they remind me of new growth.
It's a long story – lots to do with the industrious nature of the beaver (rather than the tendency to wreak flooding havoc with his structure building...).
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