Charley Hellier

York artist, Charley Hellier, grew up in Lancashire, but has lived in Yorkshire for over 20 years. Her atmospheric paintings are informed by her experience and surroundings.

Charley paints in oils so she can continue to move and mould them over time, so the images change as does the landscape and sky. They are portals into her childhood places, scenes that she loves to walk within, or worlds of the imagination. Inspiration is drawn from the changeable, dramatic moorlands of North Yorkshire. Environmental themes intermingle with her love of history and philosophy, folklore and ancestry and the power of weather, particularly dynamic storms.

Charley has an ongoing theme of storms, living under the dramatic skies of Yorkshire. She is fascinated by storm creation mythology, particularly that of the Medieval period. Her Tempestarii collection is about those that were believed to control the weather and blamed for bringing tempests to devastate crops. She likes to create links with our ancestors and their beliefs: inviting the viewer to question the link with humanity in contemporary times. We are now affecting our environment, causing extremes in weather and have thus become the modern day Tempestarii, in a sense.

© Charley Hellier