Jo Williams

Cimarron Canyon III
watercolor

My work as a painter has been one of the great journeys in my life, a journey that has come full circle. My first introduction to watercolor came when I was eight years old. My third grade teacher, who loved painting watercolor landscapes, allowed us to copy her paintings. I have not forgotten the lessons of mixing greens, and the importance of the pigment yellow, because it was always the first color to disappear in my Prang watercolor sets.

Edge of the Canyon
watercolor

I returned to watercolor again in my college career and renewed my love and deep respect for the medium. After obtaining a degree in art education from what is now the University of North Texas, I taught junior high art for a brief period of time.

In a few years, it became clear to me that what I had to do with my life was be a painter. My first serious painting was in oil and pastel. Finally in 1986, I began to put all my focus on watercolor. I also returned to teaching as a private teacher, which is my second passion.

Grand Escalante
watercolor

Although I spent a few years exploring the figure and produced a body of art based on some very introspective work, landscapes have continued to be a constant theme. Having grown up among the woods, rolling hills, and creeks of North Central Texas, that imagery is embedded in my psyche. My focus is on the texture and color of the foliage, the networking of the branches of the trees, and the myriad facets of water both still and moving.

All of my work involves the use of spontaneous and reactive brushwork and becomes a vehicle for expressing my strong sense of color—both subtle and intense. These are the constant and unifying elements of all of my work.

Painting keeps me centered and nourishes my soul; it helps me maintain needed balance to my life.

Tucker Tower
mixed media collage