Hilary Mills Lambert
Hilary Mills Lambert Classical Colorist
Hilary started painting at a very young age in Montclair, NJ and Landgrove, Vermont. She was greatly influenced by many of the adults and museums around her.
Growing up in the town of George Inness, 15 miles outside of Manhattan, she was exposed to many aesthetic events, as her parents were leaders in the art, furniture, interiors, exteriors and garden businesses. Everything beautiful was of great importance. The Metropolitan, the Frick, National Arts Club were regular family trips.
Vermont was the family vacation home full of forests, mountains and streams. Many of the neighbors were professional artists from Boston and NY who summered and painted. Hilary’s godfather was a professional artist who inspired her to love and paint the outdoors. Currently she runs plein air workshops in Vermont. Aldro Hibbard,(1886-1972) painted many of the local scenes in VT which Hilary has located and paints in his footsteps.
Attending college, Hilary was exposed to teachers who were disciples of Timothy Leary. As the quote goes”… you must turn on, tune in, and drop out.” It was a period in art in our country where classical realism was thrown under the painted hippie bus. Mandelas and soul searching were the rigors of the day. Hilary self-taught perspective as it was not offered. Lots and lots of art history was the spring board for the vast appreciation she holds.
After graduation she headed for Manhattan where she took many classes in figure drawing at the Art Students League and School of Visual Arts at night. During the day she held administrative positions over the years at Sotheby’s and Glamour Magazine. Finding the necessity to build a Portfolio for Commercial Art jobs she went back school and received a MS from Pratt Institute. This degree helped her get jobs in the computer games business for years.
Three kids later who have all graduated from college and a marriage still intact, Hilary moved from computers to the studio. She completed an MFA from the Academy of Art in SF as she has been teaching in the school system in Lafayette, CA. Most recently she has been lucky to be associated with Golden Gate Atelier in Oakland, studying with Andrew Ameral. Classical realism from GGA has been the missing link for describing light on form. I am just beginning to integrate the different periods of my life into a style that I’m very proud of.