Artist's Biography
Bill was born and raised outside of Denver, CO, began drawing with serious intent (copying comic book characters) at age three, and painting in oils at the age of ten. His first commission was completed at age eleven. As a kid, he won two bicycles and a nice .22 rifle from the Denver Post for submitted cartoons which were published in the paper. Sports and academics occupied most of his time in high school, but he continued to draw and paint continually, and won a number of prizes in art shows in high school.
Bill attended the U.S. Naval Academy where he became the Art Editor, head cartoonist, and cover artist for the school magazine. Many of his irreverent cartoons are still considered classics at the Academy, and are often reprinted in Academy calendars and publications. He had an unofficial occupation doing portraits of his classmate’s girlfriends. Bill served as a US Marine Corps officer for five years during the Vietnam war after graduation from the Academy, and began his avocational involvement with computers while in the Marines.
Bill has always worked steadily as a freelance illustrator and commissioned artist for the past thirty years. Since 2004, he has given art his full time attention, and paints a variety of subjects which interest him. He’s had a stream of portrait, landscape and wildlife commissions to complete, and has won many awards in shows/contests.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“I like to paint representationally – I like images I paint to look like what I see, but with some artistic enhancement and improvement. Images that are beautiful and arresting capture my attention. I’m interested in the subtleties of color, value, and color temperature, and like to experiment with these variables to create striking images. I like to change subject matter, and will usually have landscape, wildlife, and figurative or portrait paintings underway at any given time. Like most working artists, painting seems to be something I have to do…I’ve done it all my life, and will continue to do it for the rest of my life. Every painting brings significant intellectual challenges – the mental effort is much more arduous than the physical. I try to say something special about this world we so briefly occupy.”
AWARDS
2010 Featured Artist of the Year – Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
2009 Three paintings in the Top 100 of the Paint America “Paint the Parks” contest
2009 Honorable Mention Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Premier Art Program
2009 Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival Quick Draw
2008 First Place Wyoming Conservation Stamp Art Contest – image for the 2009 WY Conservation Stamp
2008 Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival Quick Draw
2006 Award of Merit – Wyoming Conservation Stamp Art Contest
2005 Top 100 Arts for the Parks
2005 Stephen Aschenbrenner Collector’s Choice Award, Arts for the Parks
2005 Top 40 and Honorable Mention Wyoming Conservation Stamp Art Contest
2004 Top Mini-100 Arts for the Parks
2001 Top 40 Wyoming Conservation Stamp Art Contest