Lake of the Woods residents Roland and Julie Hill’s artistic pursuits demonstrate beauty can be found both above and below the Earth’s surface.
Roland Hill’s “lapidary” (from the Latin “concerned with stones”) work has roots in his 25-year career as a prospector, which he pursued until a mining accident eight years ago severely injured both his legs.
But Hill took a bad situation and made something good of it. For the past two years, he’s been utilizing minerals found at his claim, near Kirkland Lake, as well as from claims of friends, to make his pieces.
“At first, I didn’t feel like doing anything [after the accident]. But I can’t sit still,” he chuckled in an interview last week.
Hill’s pieces are made from minerals like green quartz carbonate, amethyst, and “daisy stone,” and some have gold accents.
His work takes the form of everything from inukshuks to clocks to pen sets, all of which he noted make “great gifts” and are reflective of this part of Canada.
Hill explained he starts out by cutting slabs of whatever mineral he’ll be working with. Smaller pieces are put in a rock tumbler while larger ones are cleaned by hand.
Then he covers the rock in epoxy. “It brings out the colour,” he remarked.
With a piece like an inukshuk, he’ll epoxy the rocks, then quickly stack them together within the two minutes he has before they dry.
Hill said he hopes his work proves popular with the public. “It’s not something too many people do,” he noted.
On the other hand, Julie Hill mainly works with somewhat of a more familiar medium—watercolour and oil paints.
Hill, who first painted when she was a teenager and then a college student, put her artistic pursuits behind her once she became very busy as a school teacher and mother.
But a few years ago, Hill put brush to paper once again and hasn’t stopped since.
“I hadn’t really painted for myself in so long,” she said. “When you’re teaching younger children, you’re around art every day almost, so it didn’t really leave me.
“But when we came here, I had the opportunity to really get back into it.
“I’m glad I got back into it. It’s a good pastime when you’re retired,” she added.
Julie Hill noted her subject matter ranges from birds, lighthouses, and barns to lakeside scenes—all evocative of Northwestern Ontario, and more specifically, the Rainy River and the Lake of the Woods area.
“I try to paint local scenes,” she said. “I’ve been getting into different things, like plants and nature. Where we live, we have an ideal situation.”
To get a closer look at the Hills’ artwork, drop by the Fine Line Art Gallery at 529 Mowat Ave. here in Fort Frances.
Fort Frances Times
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