Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gail Williams. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Gail, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I began my life as an artist in earnest when I retired from my previous career in health care. Sometimes I think I would like to turn back the clock and have been an artist earlier, but I realize that my life experience has prepared me perfectly for this new career. I am an intuitive painter who lets curiosity, rather than logic, guide the brush. My many years of analyzing X-rays and scans as a radiation therapist inspires my creative process of finding the shapes that are lurking on the canvas. Without a doubt, I know that my painting would not be what it is today without the experiences I have gathered along the way.

Gail, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I graduated from high school, I applied to art school but was not accepted. From there I pivoted, and I applied to become a radiation therapist. My education and travel expenses from my hometown in northern Ontario were covered by a grant. I was so fortunate to have my education paid for! While in Toronto, training to earn my certificate, I took night courses in art school. In becoming a working mom in the health care field, I put my creative pursuits on hold until my last years of working. That’s when I took more art courses and workshops with the intention of finally fulfilling my girlhood dream. When I retired, I jumped right into painting, showing and selling. I was even able to get a studio, which I had not thought possible due to the high rents in this city. Today, my art is in collections around the globe thanks to this wonderful online network we now have, and I participate regularly in outdoor art fairs and gallery shows. Being selected to participate in The Salt Spring National Art Prize in 2019 ranks among the highlights of my career to date. Having my piece chosen as one of the 50 artworks for this prestigious Canadian competition from a field of 2000 entries was immensely validating and inspiring. While I used to regret not having gone to art school, I realize now that it’s likely I would have had my weird and wonderful viewpoint knocked out of me by traditional
academics. I love to experiment and do not hold anything I do as precious. It is all a learning process. Sometimes it works out great – and a lot of times I need to start over.

What I value most about my practise is fun, courage and vulnerability. My paintings are bold and colourful, challenging and thought provoking, fantastical and charming. You might be attracted at first by the radiant colour combinations, but, when you look closely, you see there is much more for your imagination to connect with. It’s the story of the painting that grabs you, which is what my clients comment on most frequently.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Besides wanting to create art myself, I deeply believe that we are all creative. Many people say that they can’t even draw a straight line, therefore they couldn’t be an artist.

I believe nothing could be further from the truth! What needs to be taught is how to see, not just to look. As babies, we learn to walk by falling and getting up again. That is what being able to draw is truly about: practise, practise, practise. I love to share my techniques and unbridled curiosity. My philosophy is that there is no right or wrong way to art, I consider art a verb. Recently, I have had the good fortune to have my nephew join me in the studio and we have created wonderful work together. Safe Refuge, a sprawling 10ft x 5ft painting, is our first collaboration and we have more to come.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I consider myself more determined than resilient. Inspired by my Finnish heritage, I strive to embody ‘sisu.’ It means to have stoic determination, perseverance, courage, and tenacity when faced with what may seem impossible. My grandmother, who immigrated to Canada with two small daughters to meet her husband in the lonely northern Ontario city of Port Arthur, had plenty of sisu. She lived a life of hardship and heartache, and she never learned how to speak or write a lot of English but still managed to buy a house and a camp on the shores of mighty Lake Superior. She was my first and loudest cheerleader who framed my paint-by-numbers paintings as kid.

I’ve always been determined not to give up on my dream of being an artist. Receiving a rejection letter from art school at the age of 19 was crushing, but I refused to let that singular outcome stop me. My creative path did not unfold as I planned or expected, and it might have taken me 50 years, but I now confidently say ‘I’m an artist’.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gailwilliamsartist.com
• Instagram: @gailwilliamsartist
• Facebook: Gail Williams Artist
• Linkedin: gail@gailwilliamsartist.com

Image Credits
Gail Williams