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Rebecca Hillery-Tong. © Rebecca
I’m Rebecca Hillery-Tong. I live in East Molesey with my husband. I’m a figurative and portrait artist.
In 2023 I was selected to exhibit as part of the ‘Moving Art’ exhibition run by Elmbridge Borough Council Arts Development and the R.C Sherriff Trust, which saw local artworks exhibited at Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre, and then at Esher Civic Centre.
My creative journey has been lifelong, scribbling on the walls at home from the age of two, much to my parents’ consternation! As a child I was never without my pencils, felt tipped pens and paper everywhere I went.
I loved Art at school and my Art and Textiles GCSE’s, and Art A Level at Esher College was followed by a Foundation Course in Art and Design and a BA (Hons) Degree in Fashion Design at Kingston University. I went on to have a 30-year career as a professional fashion designer.
You can see my work via my Instagram page: @rebecca_ht_art
In 2019 I reignited my passion for figurative art by attending regular life drawing sessions.
During lockdown in 2020 I was living in Cumbria and on furlough from my job. I began to create fashion-inspired art and post my work on Instagram. I started to gain a small following for my artwork.
After lockdown we moved back to East Molesey and in early 2023 I quit my last fashion design job and set up my home studio to focus on art full time.
I love to combine portraits and fashion-inspired figures with bold colour, mixing realism with abstraction to produce striking images.
Rebecca Hillery-Tong in her studio © Rebecca 
In November 2023 I was asked to exhibit some pieces as part of a group show at The Winning Gallery in Hampton Court, East Molesey.
I designed the exhibition flyer and was involved in manning the gallery for part of the duration of the exhibition. It was a great success, I sold most of my pieces and gained 3 commissions as a result!
I take inspiration from the worlds of fashion, modern culture and contemporary art using a bold colour and an expressive style. I work in acrylic, oil, pastel, ink and pencil. I occasionally paint in digital format on iPad.
My art is underpinned by my insider knowledge of fashion design and encompasses portraiture and abstract concepts.
My work is predominantly focused on people. Sometimes those close to me, family and friends, but often from fashion images or models that inspire me. I love painting profiles. I’ve also done a number of self-portraits over the years. Self-portraits are therapeutic and as close as I can get to journaling. You can take risks with the medium, experiment, do anything you want.
My fashion background and art practice has made me an avid people watcher, forever looking at the people around me. I love cities and am lucky to live so close to London with its amazing selection of art galleries to visit. As a designer I lived and worked in Istanbul for a year which was an incredible opportunity. Both cities are bustling with life, have ancient historical pasts and intense sensations.
To relax I love to walk or cycle in nature and swim to clear my head. A calm blue sea ideally in Greece is definitely my happy place. I usually take my paints with me when I travel, last year I painted oils on small canvases while on holiday in Corfu.
Background image: Triple self portrait. © Rebecca
Abstract face painting. © Rebecca
My obsession with observation shows up in my brushstrokes and speed of mark making. Some of that comes from fashion sketching, capturing the essence of a ‘look’ in real time. I try to gauge the pace at which I work, in order not to lose the essence of the subject by working too quickly.
I’ll often work intensely and fast for an hour or so, then leave the picture in order to view it ‘fresh’ the following day. You need to paint with a level of anxiety, also with confidence and honesty.
Sometimes I can spend months thinking about my approach to a portrait or commission and making many studies to get the process and composition totally right. I’m sure I drive some of my clients mad! Hopefully it’s worth it in the end.
Watercolour portrait. © Rebecca
2025 will be an exciting new chapter for me as I plan some exciting projects.
I will be submitting my first entry for Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year! I will be exhibiting again as part of Elmbridge Moving Art at Esher Civic Centre and with The Molesey Art Society in their Spring Show.
Meanwhile I’ll be relaunching my art sales website, making new work for further commissions and exhibitions and creating an online portrait painting course. In the longer term I am hoping to collaborate on an Art and Wellness Retreat in Spain. I have exhibited and sold work in two group shows in 2023 at The Winning Gallery in East Molesey and 2024 in Elmbridge Moving Art at the Riverhouse Barn Gallery in Walton on Thames.
I am a member of The Molesey Art Society and exhibit with them three times a year.
I currently have a selection of artwork ‘Fashion Faces’ for sale at DISH café and gallery at 3 Bridge Road, Hampton Court, Surrey, UK.
You can see my work via my Instagram page: @rebecca_ht_art.
I work full time as an artist, exhibiting and working on commissions. For any enquiries, please contact me at: email: rebeccatong9@icloud.com
Explore Rebecca's other works
