Bill Williams
Born in Oklahoma, Bill Williams has been a professional artist for more than 40 years. After working for 24 years as the Art Director for the university publications office at the University of Oklahoma and as a graphic designer, photographer, and illustrator he's produced thousands of publications that made an impact through visual design. His photography is featured in two Mexico guidebooks published by the University of Oklahoma press. The Persimmon Hill Magazine, a publication of the national Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City has published his photography. His latest project is a series of eight photographic coffee-table books on the State of Chihuahua, Mexico.
Now retired and a full time painter, he has become a devotee of plein-air painting. He has traveled across the United States and throughout the world painting and taking photographs in places such as Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Africa, and lower Baja, California. In November of 1999, he traveled to the Holy Land, and in the summer of 2000, he traveled from South Dakota to Oregon following the Lewis & Clark Trail on the Missouri River painting and shooting photographs. These portfolios are just a sample of some of his paintings and photography done in these exotic and romantic places.
He has a BFA degree from the University of Tulsa and has studied painting with Oklahoma's own Charles Banks Wilson and internationally known watercolor artist Milford Zomes of California. He credits this art teacher, Zomes, for inspiring him with the advice that to be the best fine artist you can be. "It's important to have a design that conveys the message, and it's important that every work of art convey a feeling." Williams paints and photographs images with a conscious regard for the principles of design and feels a sense of duty to portray a positive statement in a traditional style.
