Hiraeth: New Malvern Landscapes Inspire Francesca Currie’s Latest Exhibition
The award-winning, Herefordshire-based artist Francesca Currie is announcing a new exhibition inspired by the Malvern Hills and beyond this March at Elmslie House 21 st -22 nd March 10-5pm.
Titled Hiraeth, the show brings together a body of landscape oil paintings exploring the Welsh idea of hiraeth, a longing for home. The artist has always called the Midlands home, having grown up in Worcester before leaving the county to travel and study, and most recently returning to build a life and community in Ledbury.
“This is a very personal project for me,” Currie explains. “It’s centred on my own longing for home, not as a single physical place, but as something formed through memory and return. From the paths I have walked all my life, to places that feel homely because of the people I shared them with. With a changing self, and changing seasons as the land remains constant.’
“This, to me, is hiraeth: a love and longing for the deeply known, a place that holds a lifetime of reflection, grief, and joy. For me, one such place is the Malvern Hills, offering space to remember and to renew. Through this work, I hope others feel it too.” Francesca Currie is a Herefordshire-based painter whose work has gained national and international recognition. Her paintings are held in private collections around the world and have been featured in programming on Sky Arts and Sky History. Among her most recognisable portraits are commissions of Sir Trevor McDonald, the Bishop of Worcester, and Amanda Holden.
Trained in traditional oil painting, Currie uses classical methods to construct contemporary images. “The process mirrors the land itself,” she says. “Sometimes tumultuous and harsh, yet through that struggle something beautiful emerges. I’m interested in how painting can hold space for stillness and calm within an ever-changing world.”
Francesca studied Fine Art at University College of the Arts Norwich before refining her classical training at the London Atelier of Representational Art. After exhibiting during Herefordshire Art Week, Currie realised there was a strong local appetite for paintings of the places people love. She chose to create her own independent show at Elmslie House. “I’ve always loved the house and its ethos,” she says.
“The exhibition will be held in a beautiful, light-filled room, set in the hills themselves, the very landscape many of these paintings connect to. I wanted a space where the paintings could feel ‘at home’, and this one felt right.”
The exhibition will run on the 21 st and 22 nd March 2026 from 10-5pm at Elmsie House Malvern, and all works will be for sale, with a wide range of sizes and prices, from small 7 × 7 inch sketch-like pieces to large 100 × 100 cm paintings. Visitors are welcome to take purchases home on the day or arrange delivery later in theweek. Currie works from her studio in Ledbury and regularly hosts art classes at the artery in Worcester. For commissions or further information, you can reach Currie via her website: www.francesca-currie.co.uk