Childhood Dreams vs. Reality
Step into the enchanting world of the artist Bell Hutley, where childhood dreams intertwine with artistic reality. Bell reveals how the magic of a forgotten woodland and beloved fairy tales continue to fuel her creative vision. Discover how these defining moments have shaped her unique artistic voice and inspired her to find beauty in the smallest details of the world around us.
“Turning my childhood into art has always been my way of making sense of the world. This is how my childhood shaped my artistry today.”
The Woodland: An Enchanted Refuge
The most dominating memory of my childhood was when I would immerse myself into the woodland that lay at the bottom of my fathers garden. I would get lost for hours, mesmerised by the little worlds that would present themselves as I looked closer. Small moss-milieus seemed alive with secrets. Mushrooms sprouting from a piece of fallen bark with lichen and star moss growing off it. Underneath mycelium roots forming in the soil and bark. I would wonder what micro worlds are living in these green mysterious habitats.
The woodland was a rich living tapestry of streams seeping through the undergrowth, winding through meadows of wild flowers, trees softly swaying in the wind; Oak, Beech, Birch, Hazel, Ash, Sycamore, Alder and my favourite of all the willow. Creating dabbled light on the moss pathways, lakes, butter leaves, gunner and pastel hydrangeas. Herons and kingfishers would feast on the fish from the lake, whilst dragon flies, bumble bees and butterflies would dance past. The long hours I spent there have been imprinted into my psyche, day in and day out, I absorbed it like a sponge. I came from a loud bustling family, it was here where I could find my peace and solace, it was the place I went to escape the trappings of a big and all consuming family.
Fairy Tales: The Bridge Between Reality and Imagination
Once my days' escapades were finished in the woods, my mother or father would read me the words of Brothers Grimm, Lewis Carroll and Hans Christian Andersen. These fairy tales felt like an extension of my time in the woods. To my young playful mind the woods and the stories were the same, I lived with one foot in woodlands and one foot in the stories. My childhood felt like a fever dream where reality melted into folk tales.
Sometimes these stories would scare me to my core. The crying baby in Alice in Wonderland that turns into a pig haunted my childhood. Its screeches and distressed grunts terrified me so much as a young girl. My imagination was active, wild and untamed and it followed me into my adult life, becoming an integral part of who I am.
From Woodland to Urban Jungle
20 years on, I am now living in London. London is known to be one of the greenest cities in the world, parks, woodlands, rivers, wetlands, and reedbeds thread through the city. Just walking through London streets in mid-April during the cherry blossom bloom is a site to behold.
Although my life and London has been abundantly stimulating and I have travelled to beautiful corners of the globe. I still find myself returning back to the woodland and fairy tales from my childhood for inspiration.
Scenes from the woodland and the stories have always managed to weave themselves into my work. Either subconsciously or consciously there are breadcrumbs in every art piece, collaboration, collection that I create.
The Art of Looking Closer
I come from a family of fast walkers, they stride out in walks, marching through fields at speed. I personally prefer a pace that involves stopping and looking. Even on the side of the road banks there is so much to be found, roots of trees, thistles, elder berries, fungi, meadow flowers, spiderwebs, ivy vines and so on. So many small details present themselves the closer you look. That for me this is where the magic lies and seems to be a habit I picked up from youth.
Childhood Dreams Woven into Art
My art, my style and my voice are all closely linked to my childhood roots. They seem to be a part of my creative DNA, it’s a connection I cherish deeply and one that I don’t think will ever leave me.
The stories I read and the landscapes I explored as a little girl are now inseparable from my creative process. They have shaped how I see the world and how I make sense of it through my work.
Text & illustrations - Bell Hutley @bellhutley
www.bellhutley.com
