Hester Berry

Hester Berry visited Scilly in April of this year. When she was on the islands, the weather was very changeable, often heavy rain showers, storms and passing sunshine. Hester said she loved the wildness of the weather, however. She enjoyed watching the clouds rolling in over the sea and the rapid change in weather meant that the bright sunlight often shone off wet surfaces giving her an opportunity to make the most of the light. 

Hester said this is what she particularly likes about Scilly; the intensity of the light. She definitely noticed different sea and sky colours, different geological features and plant colours to places she has painted on the mainland but says that what she really loves about Scilly is that there is so much water around our low lying islands that it gives a real potency to the light here. 

Hester lives in Devon and is a well renowned artist in the South West. She paints local landscapes but is also interested in life drawing and portraiture and has taught widely throughout the UK and also in Europe. Although Hester paints using traditional methods, she experiments extensively with techniques and her work is always evolving. Her brushstrokes are economical yet perfectly capture the feel of a place and her use of light is striking and one of the hallmarks of her work.