Hester studied for a BA(hons) Illustration at Harrow School of Art & Design and has specialised in printmaking since graduating in 1994. She is now based in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and has a studio with a view of Penyghent. As a fellrunner with a lifelong interest in natural history, she aims to draw attention to her encounters with wildlife, seasonal changes in the landscape and our relationship with nature. She uses multiple plates, painted textures and intricate cutting in her collagraphs accentuating the colours and patterns found in the natural world.
Hester is a member of Leeds Fine Artists, Printmakers Circle and Ålgården Studios in Sweden where she visits annually to develop her technique and to work on projects. Awards include an Extending Practice Award from Chrysalis Arts which allowed her to work with the Mercer Gallery, British Museum and Yorkshire Museum on an exhibition of work inspired by the Vale of York Viking Treasure Horde. She has been shortlisted twice for the New Lights Prize Exhibition. In 2017, her large-scale print installation was shown in a field-barn during Grassington Festival. Called ‘Within These Walls’, its five 4-metre hand-printed cotton hangings celebrated the UKs endangered upland meadows.
She recently collaborated with the Dales Countryside Museum on a funded project celebrating the life and work of their founder, Marie Hartley MBE which culminated in a print exhibition inspired by the ecology, conservation and landscape of the Yorkshire Dales.
