Jill trained at Cambridge University and Putney School of Art and Design. Her early years in rural Scotland set in motion a desire to examine the wilderness in every aspect of life.

“All my life I have been especially drawn to the innocence and vulnerability of the natural world. In my early work as an actor, then as a political coach and now in my practice as a visual artist, I have spent many years exploring expression and the means of communication and how best to find an effective voice both for myself and for those – be they animal or human – around me.

In my portraits, as well as revealing the unadorned beauty of my subjects, I examine their silent acquiescence, and the often precarious balance of an existence at the mercy of human hands. Will there come a time when we only read about these extraordinary creatures in books?”

“Jill’s particular genius is to distill the essence of the natural world and in so doing make it something more than itself. Her work is not photographically reproductive and in her manipulation of scale she nimbly creates pieces which pulse with subtle and mischievous life. She imbues her creatures with character without anthropomorphising. The result is the true definition of art: through the medium of the artist the subject is transformed and given more than ordinary significance. Jill’s technical skill is matched by her wisdom, wit and passionate engagement with the world around her and it is these qualities which are the underpinnings of her work and why every piece she makes is simply, viscerally, compellingly beautiful.”

Jill Meager