She earned her BFA from UMass Lowell (2002) where she was primarily trained as a children's book illustrator under the direction of the late narrative painter, Brenda Atwood Pinardi. Since graduating Hillary spent many years creating figurative oil paintings and working as an illustrator. She illustrated her first children's book "The Good Guy Lullaby" which was published in April 2014. She has recently become very interested in exploring a new direction for her art career which is plein air landscape painting. She is fascinated by the effects of light in nature. Hillary finds inspiration in the beautiful New England landscape and has an affinity for marshes, seas, and skies. She has completed a series of landscape paintings with an attempt to capture light, mood, and atmosphere.