Hillie has been creative from a young age. 

During her early years, in the Netherlands, she painted mainly landscapes in oil on canvas. She also had an affinity for creating garments and fabrics. During her twenties she moved full time into the fibre arts. She was a spinner, a weaver and a shepherd for decades. Her main focus was the promotion of naturally grown fibers and she questioned the toxicity of man made materials since the 1970's. 

Hillie was also an avid gardener, and has grown her own organic vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs, dye plants and her own teas since the 1970's. 

During a two year illness she picked up the paint brush again and has since 2003 been painting in oils on canvas. 

Around 2010, this Art Ship project started to incubate and Hillie and her husband Darrell visited gorgeous empty retail buildings in small town main streets. 

"We visited old farms and empty marinas and imaged our vision at those places."