1917 – 2006

Artist, sculptor and teacher

Jean Hill was a highly respected artist whose talent and dedication has had a great impact on many local artists. Her art practice covered oil and water colour painting, sculpture, portrait, ceramics, china painting, patchwork and sketching.

She began her art studies at East Sydney Technical College in 1934 and was a prolific sketcher, artist and sculptor, contributing to many exhibitions and receiving public commissions for her work.

In the early 1950s her father, Sir Edward Hallstrom, commissioned Jean to sculpt a bust of the first Lt Governor of NSW, Captain Arthur Phillip. The bronze bust was installed outside the then Maritime Services Board building in Circular Quay in 1954 (now the MCA). It was relocated to the forecourt of the Museum of Sydney and unveiled there in 2014.

During the 1960s Jean Hill was a ‘tester’ for camping sites for the Girl Guides. She spent many years drawing the country towns and landscapes where the girls were camping.

“I drew everything that was attractive and had artistic merit, as well as its historic value”

In the 1970s Jean came to the Shoalhaven, first as an art teacher at Nowra TAFE and then at Milton TAFE.

In April 1974, nineteen interested art students met at Jean Hill’s home ‘Tomintoul’. She had been asked to start an art class for the Nowra Technical College in Milton. They first set up a temporary studio in the lounge room of Jean’s home. The group later moved to the ‘Millhouse’ in Ulladulla – the original manager’s home for Mitchell’s Mill, where the Civic Centre now stands and from which the group took its name.

After several subsequent moves, the Millhouse Art Society is now a well-known group of artists and painters which holds very successful exhibitions throughout each year as well as having a permanent exhibit of paintings on sale at the Millhouse Gallery at Milton’s Cultural Centre.

Jean was a prolific artist who worked across a wide variety of media. She was also the author and illustrator of several books, including ‘Echoes are Calling in Kendall Country – 12 sketches of a past era in and around the historic township of Milton, NSW’ (1988) and ‘Pencil in the Wimmera – Wimmera sketches’.

She also contributed several sketches to Milton Ulladulla Historical Society of local homesteads.

Milton Ulladulla Historical Society is very fortunate to hold one of Jean’s significant works – her ‘Dinner Set for Margaret’ (her daughter). The dinner set contains 94 pieces, all hand painted by Jean using a variety of blue glazes on white Thomas china and then kiln fired.