Hilary Schenker

Bio

Hilary Schenker is a landscape oil painter based in DC. Her background is in illustration and graphic design. In 2012 she illustrated the book Same Sun Here, published by Random House, and went on to found the design studio Green Comma Media, working with clients including Sierra Club and the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. In 2017 she was awarded a Flight School Artist Fellowship through the Heinz Foundation, and in 2019, during the pandemic, made the decision to switch from illustration to pursue fine art full time. Schenker is a member of numerous juried art associations, and her work has been shown at galleries including PxP Contemporary, Glen Echo, and AAP Gallery. In 2025 she was awarded Honorable Mention at the 2025 Hill Center DC Galleries Regional Exhibition. She maintains a studio at DC Arts Studios.

After growing up in California and living for decades in New York City and then Pittsburgh, she now calls DC home. Schenker lives in Takoma Park with her husband, daughters, and rescue dog, Salt.

Artist Statement

My artistic process begins in daily life. Wherever I go, I take snapshots constantly with my phone of anything beautiful that catches my eye, from rainbow reflections on street signs, to glowing lights on tunnel walls, to beautiful sunsets over the Beltway. Later, in the studio, I work to capture in paint the emotion that stopped me in my tracks. My process is marked by repeated erasure and recreation, rubbing out and then repainting, layering, and working across the whole canvas at once until I achieve something that is loose and spontaneous but also true.

I’m captivated by subtle color shifts, bold shadows, blinding lights, portals, and the movement of clouds. My work aims to capture the fleeting moments of epiphany which come upon us suddenly and disappear just as quickly. I’m interested in what connects us to nature, a sense of something larger than the everyday, and the poignance of being human in our modern era.