Month: February 2023

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Artist Hilary Warren: Everyday bikes in Hoi An, Vietnam

This blog is dedicated to celebrating bicycles in their many forms.

Art is a fundamental aspect of this passion, and I have shared numerous posts featuring artists who incorporate bikes in their work, such as:

As someone who delights in discovering artists who use bikes in their creations, I was delighted to stumble upon an Australian artist named Hilary Warren.

Artwork by Hilary Warren ‘Hoi An Entrance’

I found Hilary’s work on the website Blue Thumb: Home of Australian Artists and it immediately caught my eye for a number of reasons.

First, she’s an Australian female artist who, despite winning many awards, is not as well known her male counterparts. But that’s not what drew me to her work – it was the fact that two out of her five prints on the site featured a bicycle!

I also appreciate that Hilary is an older artist who only has two followers and few views of her work on this platform. As someone who values supporting and increasing the visibility of lesser known or underestimated individuals, I was more interested in Hilary’s work than the others listed.

I was also interested to Hilary uses work uses etching, which is not a common art medium – and certainly not one I have seen used in bike art very often at all.

I was also intrigued by Hilary’s artwork because it brought back memories of my time in Hoi An. I had the pleasure of cycling around the city and taking in the local atmosphere, and her prints captured that feeling so well. It was a delightful reminder of the happy days I spent exploring the city on two wheels and seeing exactly the kind of houses her work depicts.

Hilary’s choice to depict bicycles in the everyday life of Hoi An is significant because it serves as a reminder that bikes are utilized by diverse communities all over the world. It challenges the normative images and pervasive media representations that often only showcase white men as cyclists. By highlighting how people from all walks of life use bicycles in their daily routines, Hilary’s prints offer a much-needed reset from the limited and exclusionary messaging we often receive about cycling. It is refreshing to see such a representation showcasing a broader range of bike riding lifestyles, contexts and experiences.

In this collection, Hilary depicts everyday life in Hoi An, Vietnam, where bicycles are a staple of daily life. The way she captures the spirit of the city and how casually the bicycles wait outside people’s front doors at the ever-ready – is simple and meaningful.

It’s a testament to the way that bicycles are woven into the fabric of a community, becoming a vital part of the culture and identity of a place.

I like that her prints are understated and simple.

The sepia wash accentuates the nostalgic feeling of bygone years ..a time when every house had a bike ……. (*sigh*)…………..

Artwork by Hilary Warren ‘Hoi An House’

Hilary Warren the artist


Hilary Warren is a Canberra-based printmaker who began her art career after working in science. She obtained a PhD in Plant Biochemistry in 1970 and worked in Immunology until her retirement in 2014. She then turned her skills to printmaking, focusing on the Photopolymer Photogravure technique, in which she adapts her own photographs to create etched photopolymer plates. Warren has developed this skill through workshops with well-established Australian printmakers, and her hand-pulled prints are created using oil-based etching inks and Hahnemuhle paper.

Warren’s early work focused on images from her travels in Europe and Asia, but with travel limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she has started a series of botanical etchings using photographs taken in her own garden and at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. In other works, she explores still life, always emphasizing the use of light and shade to create a unique view of something ordinary.

Warren is committed to participating in the Australian and international printmaking community and finds inspiration in print exchanges, exhibitions held in Canberra by the Artists Society of Canberra and the Canberra Art Workshop, and prestigious art prizes, where she has been selected as a finalist in several. She is always eager to learn from others and continues to develop her skills through workshops and collaboration with other artists.

Read more about Hilary Warren: BIO HERE

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Costa Rica: bicycle policy, tax incentives and decarbonization by 2050

Latin America is driving the promotion the use of bicycles as a means of transportation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and creating cleaner and healthier societies. Costa Rica has a progressive national policy that promotes the use of bicycles and road safety education. Here is a little more about what is happening there. Very inspiring! Enjoy! NG.

Photo: Gabo G./Shutterstock

Costa Rica: leading the way with national bicycle policy

Costa Rica is driving bicycle riding and policy action in Latin America.

Costa Rica is leading the way with its national policy to promote the use of bicycles.

The country is offering tax incentives for companies that encourage their staff to use bikes. This initiative forms part of the strategy to decarbonize the country by 2050.

More and more businesses are providing exclusive parking slots, showers, and changing rooms for their employees, among other facilities.

The aim is to encourage more people to use bicycles instead of cars, which generate more than 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in Costa Rica.

Road safety education

To further promote the use of bicycles, the government is calling for better street infrastructure and road safety education.

This education will be mandatory for all students in public and private schools. The government is also encouraging and regulating municipal systems of public bicycles. Public and private initiatives that promote the use of bicycles are already booming in Costa Rica.

BiciBus, a company that provides advice to those who want to replace their cars with bikes, is one of them. Another is the Cycle-Inclusive badge, which is granted to cycling-friendly businesses.

In addition, a team supported by both BiciBus and Cycle-Inclusive travelled 917 kilometres by bicycle from San José to Panama City to raise awareness of the role of bicycles in creating cleaner and healthier societies.

This initiative shows the positive impact that bicycles can have on communities and how they can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Making positive change

The initiatives highlighted in the UN Environment Programme report demonstrate the positive impact that bicycles can have on communities.

Costa Rica’s national policy to promote the use of bicycles, better street infrastructure, road safety education, and municipal systems of public bicycles are all effective ways to promote the use of bicycles as a means of transportation.

This report is a perfect example of how bicycles can create positive change, and this initiative is a model that other places should follow.

By encouraging the use of bicycles, communities can live better lives while creating a cleaner and healthier environment for future generations.

An example for other countries

These initiatives taken in Costa Rica to promote bicycle usage are a remarkable example of how a country can take concrete steps towards decarbonization and creating a more sustainable future.

By offering tax incentives to companies that encourage bicycle use by their staff, improving street infrastructure and road safety education, and promoting public and private initiatives that support cycling, Costa Rica has set an impressive benchmark for other countries to follow.

It’s heartening to see the positive impact that bicycles can have on communities, and how they can play a crucial role in mitigating climate change.

This case study from Costa Rica provides valuable lessons and inspiration for other cities and countries looking to embrace clean mobility and create healthier and more sustainable environments for their citizens.

Photo by Laura Dixon

Initial source idea for this post: UN Environment Programme