Jess Hinsley is an artist based in Bannau Brycheiniog (the Brecon Beacons), Wales. Her work explores her love of nature and wild places. Mountains are where she feels most at home and alive and therefore they are the main focus of her practice. She explores the mountains in two ways: on foot and with her brush. She paints mostly en plein air in acrylic, using quick, spontaneous marks. Her use of colour reflects the richness she sees in the landscape. For Jess the mountains are home, a healing place, alive beneath her feet.
“I have walked out of the body and into the mountain…. It is a journey into Being…. I am not out of myself, but in myself. I am.” Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain
Jess grew up on the south coast of England. Her first encounter with mountains was aged 15, in the Lake District, and she was awestruck. She knew immediately that she wanted to spend her life amongst mountains. Jess found her home in the mountains of Wales in 2017. She was on the path to children’s book illustration when she went travelling, and began sketchbooking everyday. This led to a looser, more natural way of working, and eventually she realised that she was almost exclusively drawing the landscape around her.
Original paintings are available through the shop or via direct enquiry, and also from:
The Felin Fach Griffin, Brecon
Chapters, Hay-on-Wye
Penmaenuchaf Hotel, Dolgellau
Follow my artistic journey:
