Hilary Susan Keating

Wildlife and Pet Portrait Artist.

I’ve loved animals and art throughout my life. After obtaining my first degree in Zoology, I did various environmentally related jobs before working at Bristol Zoo for three years. Here, I worked in the Graphics Department helping to produce new signage for the enclosures and I started to draw zoo animals in my spare time. Once my three year contract finished, I went back to college and eventually graduated with an art degree specialising in wildlife illustration. In 1999 I moved to Dumfries and Galloway, a beautiful area of Scotland that I have known since childhood. I now live by the river Nith with my husband Phil, a dog and two cats. Wildlife and the natural beauty around us are the inspiration for my art. I enjoy experimenting with various media and for my work I use coloured pencils, inks, collage, lino cutting and wood engraving; often using a combination of some of these. In 2016 I started producing my paper sculptures, and in 2017, at WWT Caerlaverock, I exhibited them all together for the first time. In addition to my wildlife art I also take commissions for pet portraits.