David Williams
Born in Washington DC and raised in Virginia, David Williams is a plein air landscape and marine painter. His ideas for paintings come from those things we are all attracted to; rolling fields, a weathered face, a vase with flowers, a brilliant sunset. Williams believes it is the job of the artist to find out what and why they feel for a subject and to convey these ideas within their work.
Williams began art classes at age 10 in a local, craft shop. Here he learned to transform simple shapes into objects such as ducks, boats or cars and to draw the varied objects from around the shop. Here too was his earliest introduction to oil painting and plein air.
While attending art school, Williams stumbled upon a book about painting outdoors. In the book, John Stobart intoned the virtues of painting on location, on a small scale, and with a limited palette as a means for educating oneself in the art of painting. With book in hand, Williams set out to teach himself how to paint. Drawing and painting skills have been further developed through courses at the Virginia Museum Studio School and the Richmond Visual Arts Center. Workshops with Sergei Bongart proponent Sunny Apinchapong-Yang and Henry Henche student Camille Przewodek have greatly expanded an understanding of color and design.
Williams’ professional career started as a landscape painter. Small, naturalistic landscapes and larger, almost expressionistic, river scenes comprised the body of his work. He eventually expanded into still-life and urban scenes and all variety of large scale paintings. While the range of subjects and painting sizes greatly broadened his artistic experience, the call of naturalistic, plein air landscapes was always in the back of his mind.
Beginning in 2005 he redoubled his efforts, turning his attention back to the landscape. Freed from the constraints of large scale commission work, Williams now devotes much of his time to smaller more intimate works painted en plein air.
Williams draws much of his inspiration from the French ressionists as well as the 19th century naturalist painters who were motivated to capture the unspoiled beauty of the American landscape.
In starting a painting, Williams first builds a mental image of the finished work. He asks himself questions about what first caught his attention and about his emotional response to the subject. The answers to these simple questions lead to a concept which with observation and intuition develop into a completed painting. Often new questions will arise while painting. The answers to these questions invariably evolve into a series of paintings which are later used to develop large studio work. These series often depict the broad marshes of the Virginia Tidewater and Eastern Shore, waterfalls of Appalachia or the dramatic California coast.
Today, Williams makes his home in the Virginia Tidewater, where he lives with longtime partner and artist Sydney Hall and their cats, Jasper Johns and Frida Kahlo .When not traveling, Williams can often be spotted painting beside the forests, rivers and tide ponds which grace the area around his home.
Bibliography
David Williams by Catherine Woodson, Art Galleries and Artists of the South, Winter 2006.
Alumni Notes, David Williams, by Alice Ross, Élan Magazine, October 2006
A Simple Palette by Donna Cedar – Southworth, Élan Magazine, March 2004.
Alla Prima Paintings by Ruth Bigelson, Rappahannock Times, November 2002.
David Williams – In Touch With The Art Spirit by Barbara Sherwood, August 2001.
Affiliations
Oil Painters of America
National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society
American Impressionist Society
Mid Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association
Laguna Plein Air Painters Association
Demonstration
Painting the Still-life, Berkley Gallery, October 2005.
Painting the Still-life, Galerie Europa, September 2005.
Developing a large format painting from a plein air sketch, Galerie Europa, May 2005.
Alla prima painting and the interior, Principle Gallery, May 2003.
Gallery Representation And Contact Information
Berkley Gallery, Warrenton, Virginia.
Debbie Brown, Director. 1-540-341-7367 berkleygallery.com
Discovery Gallery, Bethesda, Maryland.
Boots Harris, Owner. Julie Band, Director, 1-301-913-9199 discoverygalleries.com
Richland Fine Art, Nashville, Tennessee.
Anne Goad, Clay Whitelaw, Owners. 1-615-292-2781 richlandfineart.com
Riverbend Fine Art, Marble Falls, Texas.
Marta Stafford, Director. 1-830-693-6632 riverbendfineart.com
Warm Springs Gallery, Warm Springs, Virginia.
Barbara Buhr, Owner. 1-540-839-2985 warmspringsgallery.com
Exhibition
February 2007
“Portrait Exhibition”, Group Exhibition, Virginia Museum Studio Gallery, Richmond, Virginia.
December 2006
“Less Is More”, Group Exhibition, Laguna Plein Air Painters Assoc., Laguna Beach, California.
October 2006
“Land And Sea”, Group Exhibition, Berkley Gallery, Warrenton, Virginia.
October 2006
“Art At The Mill”, Group Exhibition, Burwell Morgan Mill, Millwood, Virginia.
August 2006
“Summer Show”, Group Exhibition, Crossroads Art Center Gallery, Richmond, Virginia.
May 2006
“Belle Grove Benefit”, Group Exhibition, Winchester, Virginia.
May 2006
“Spring Exhibit”, Group Exhibition, Richland Fine Art, Nashville, Tennessee.
September 2005
“The Still-Life”, Painting Demonstration, Galerie Europa, Reston, Virginia.
June 2005
“Summer Art”, Three Artist Exhibition, Galerie Europa, Reston, Virginia.
May 2005
“Plein Air Painters Weekend” Galerie Europa, Reston, Virginia.
December 2004
“Recent Work”, Two Artist Exhibition, Galerie Europa, Reston, Virginia.
Oct 2004
“Plein Air Warrenton, Group Demonstration and Exhibition, Warrenton , Virginia.
June 2004
“Two Artists”, Two Artist Exhibition, Galerie Europa, Reston, Virginia.
April 2004
“Recent Works”, Solo Exhibition, Berkley Gallery, Warrenton, Virginia..
November 2003
“The Phillips Collection Washington Exhibition”, Solo Exhibition, Washington DC.
October 2003
“Plein Air Warrenton”, Group Demonstration and Exhibition, Warrenton, Virginia.
September 2003
“Recent Works”, Two Artist Exhibition, Berkley Gallery, Warrenton, Virginia.
May 2003
“Belle Grove Benefit”, Group Exhibition, Winchester, Virginia.
April 2003
“Recent Works”, Solo Exhibition, Gleedsville Gallery, Leesburg, Virginia.
November 2002
“New Works”, Group Exhibition, Gallery One, Winchester, Virginia.
October 2002
“Alla Prima”, Solo Exhibition, Longview Gallery, Sperryville, Virginia.
June 2002
“Aldie Art at the Mill”, Group Exhibition, Virginia Outdoor Foundation, Aldie, Virginia.
December 2001
“Christmas Open Studio”, Group Open Studio, Millwood, Virginia.
October 2001
“Art at the Mill”, Group Exhibition, Burwell Morgan Mill, Millwood, Virginia.
September 2001
“The Independents”, Group Exhibition, Buchanan Hall, Upperville, Virginia.
September 2001
“Still-lifes and Virginia Landscapes”, Solo Exhibition, Longview Gallery, Sperryville, Virginia.
August 2001
“Recent Work”, Solo Exhibition, Preston House Art and Antiques, Gloucester, Virginia.
June 2001
“Belle Grove Benefit”, Two Artist Exhibition, Claytonville, Millwood, Virginia.
June 2001
“Aldie Art at the Mill”, Group Exhibition, Virginia Outdoor Foundation, Aldie, Virginia.
April 2001
“Art at the Mill”, Group Exhibition, Burwell Morgan Mill, Millwood, Virginia.
November 2000
“Collected Works”, Group Exhibition, Jubilee Gallery, Winchester, Virginia.
October 2000
“Art at the Mill”, Group Exhibition, Burwell Morgan Mill, Millwood, Virginia.
August 2000
“Scenes of Summer”, Solo Exhibition, Jubilee Gallery, Winchester, Virginia.
August 2000
“Park Reflections”, Group Exhibition, The Carillon, Richmond, Virginia.
April 2000
“Art at the Mill”, Group Exhibition, Burwell Morgan Mill, Millwood, Virginia.
March 2000
“The Still-Life”, Solo Exhibition, Gallery of Northern Virginia Community College,
Manassas, Virginia.
Corporate and University Collections
HOVDE Financial, Washington, DC
Thayer Capital, Washington, DC
Tredegar Trust Corporation, Richmond, Virginia
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee