Extravagant light
- Debs Harrison
- 21 hours ago
- 5 min read
Painter Gilly Hill shares her passion for Zambia
Next time - we bring you part two of the story of the Gate and we will take a closer look inside 21 Westgate Street.
In this blog post, we tell you about the fascinating story of artist Gilly Hill. Gilly is exhibiting at The Gate, 21 Westgate Street with fellow GCA member Sue Jarvis from 30th March to 12th April 2025 (see the poster at the end of this post for details of opening times).
Gilly has a deep love and connection with Africa with its beautiful contrasts; the vibrant colours in the sunlight in contrast to the pitch-black nights, the deep silence (that isn’t silence) contrasts with the indescribable crack of a lightning bolt, or the rhythm of breathing with a sleeping elephant in contrast to the joy and energy of African music.
Gilly’s earliest memory of being drawn to art is her affinity to colour. When she was very young, as early as 4 years old, she recalls receiving a gift of box Staedtler coloured crayons from her parents. For hours she enjoyed the colour of the pencils, even before using them. Even today seeing a box of Staedtler Pencils takes her back to that early memory. Vibrant colour is a theme throughout Gilly’s work. She remembers images from her childhood and her travels where she resonates with the scenes and colours. ‘People in Africa don’t wear dull clothes’, she explains, ‘their traditional wear and even western clothes are extremely bright’. One of her treasured memories is seeing her mother, standing beside the car wearing a stunning pink frock whilst attending a social gathering. Pink is Gilly’s favourite colour. She explains that there is a quality to African sunshine and this is reflected in her bright paintings with chromatic (semi tonal steps) colours, full of resonance. She tries to capture light as it casts a glow through a leaf or through grass in the evening or the haloed outline of animals as they cross the suns beams. The beautiful contrasts between light and dark spaces, the shapes they create. The African bright sunshine evokes an emotional response. The colours, the interaction of the light, the scenes and the animals are a real joy to her. Most of what she gleans is the emotion from these memories.
Gilly was born in Zambia on Lake Tanganyika. Her father travelled because he was the colonial service livestock officer, so they travelled all over Zambia. At the age of 11 years, she was sent to high school in the UK. She then went onto train as a nurse at Guys Hospital. Once qualified she went back to Africa to the City of Cape Town where her mother was from and worked with Christian Bernard the famous heart surgeon. She was invited to work with the US peace corps over-seeing the health and welfare of volunteers. She did this for twenty-one years and travelled all over the world making lots of friends.
The drama of light and dark is a thread through Gilly’s memories. Once, as a girl she was standing in her home in Zambia and could see a terrific black cloud approaching. As she was afraid of the noise of the storms, she closed all the doors and hid. A bolt of lightning struck the other side of the window where she crouched. The noise of the crack was indescribable, and the bolt lit up the whole garden. Luckily it didn’t hit the old tree or there would have been serious damage. Darkness, Gilly reflects, is not dark it is just the absence of light just as evil is the absence of love.
Gilly recalls listening to the hubbub of laughter, music, clink of beer bottles and ice cubes into a glass whilst her parents attended a party and recalling the comforting presence of adults in the silence of the night. There were no streetlights or electricity, just hurricane lamps with a pitch-black expanse. She describes it as a silence that was not a silence, a lovely comforting sound with night birds, crickets, and cicadas. The African countryside had an incredibly deep impact on her soul.
On her travels, Gilly takes photographs of the things she wants to paint. Once at home she often makes a compilation of images to create a scene. Whilst she paints, Gilly listens to African music such as the famous Miriam Makeba. The music draws her in, brings her closer to her continent and inspires her as she works. Her recent social media posts, about her paintings, have deliberately paired African music alongside her descriptions, helping the viewer to also be immersed in the African culture.
Gilly tells of an incredible story whilst staying with a friend on a bush camp next to the Kafue River. Their hut was made of chicken wire, with a thatched roof, reed walls and no electricity. Gilly settled down for the night in a bed up against the reed wall. She was awakened to the sound of a gentle rhymical whoosh the other side of the reed wall. Suddenly she heard the rumble of an elephant. He was scratching his foot against the concrete base of the hut and breaking branches. She knew she had to stay still as he was only inches away. Although scared, she managed to fall asleep again. Gilly awoke at 3 AM and the elephant was snoring. They were only separated by a reed wall whilst they had been sleeping. The elephant just laid down close to her bed. It was exquisite to sleep beside an elephant. They both knew the other was there, they could smell each other. An elephants pungent smell is of fresh green dung. Gilly did her yoga breathing with him to the rhythm of his breathing. In the morning she found the broken branches and the flattened earth where he slept. ‘It’s this connection with Africa that impassions me’ reflects Gilly.
In 1998 Gilly was invited back to be in Zambia with the peace corps. Whilst living there she supported local artists doing wire work and shipped their work to be sold in the UK to be sold for example in the Royal Agricultural Show. In 2012 Gilly came back to England. She had always wanted to set up an art shop, and the opportunity came after a business she had bought came to an end leaving an empty shop. Gilly set up The Red Dot Art Gallery and art space at Painswick which concluded after covid. Gilly had always wanted to paint, so from 2021 she has committed herself to her passion of painting Africa.
Gilly’s Instagram: @reddotpainswick
By Deborah Harrison
