Shorelines

add to outlook add to google calendar remind me

Tuesday, November 1st, 2022

Living in Covid times gave Eileen Williamson opportunity to spend more time in her studio undistracted. She took advantage of the huge amount of sharing among artists online; learning and connecting on a much different level. Much of Williamson’s recent work has also evolved from plein air sketching. Her artist backpack carries pencils, drawing pad and a tin of watercolour paints. Williamson says that she never knows what she might find on her walkabouts and what gems she might take back to the studio to work on later.

Williamson is a Canadian artist known for her bold landscape paintings. Born in London, England, Williamson’s parents encouraged the development of her artistic talents by exposing her to art, music and literature at an early age. Her grandmother saw a budding artist and gave her the first box of watercolours at age 6. The family moved to Canada after WW2 and Williamson grew up in Ontario and British Columbia. Her family spent summers camping or at the lake and her sketch pad was always at hand drawing the landscape. Williamson completed a two year graphics art program while living in Vancouver in hopes of pursuing a career as an illustrator.

Williamson’s interest in fine art became serious when she moved to Nelson, BC in the late 1980’s. Williamson had her first public art show in the Nelson Artwalk. She volunteered on the board of the Nelson and District Arts Council and West Kootenay Regional Arts Council and took courses at the Kootenay School for the Arts, turning her talents towards acrylic landscape painting. Missing the ocean, Williamson settled on Vancouver Island in 1992 immersing herself in the growing artist community.

Williamson has worked as a painter, photographer and darkroom technician, paste up artist, writer, muralist, set designer, illustrator and art instructor. She works in various mediums but prefers acrylics as they allow for spontaneous and immediate results.

Williamson is a member of Art 10 Gallery, Nanaimo Arts Council, and the Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery. She is a regular participating artist in the Nanaimo Artwalk. Williamson has work in private collections in Canada, USA and the UK.

Williamson’s paintings can be viewed at her solo show at Art 10 Gallery at North Town Centre Mall during the month of November. Her show is a collection of revised works, new approaches, materials and subject matter executed in acrylic paints over the last year.