Gail Williams grew up in northern Ontario where she developed a deep respect and love for the rugged landscape and the power of mighty Lake Superior.
The first expression of admiration for her talent was winning the local newspaper’s Christmas colouring contest when she was 9 years old. Her ardent cheerleader was her indomitable grandmother who had travelled across the treacherous Atlantic ocean from Finland with 2 small daughters, to make a new life as have so many.
She thought she was going to follow in the steps of famous artists, go to art school and lead a bohemian lifestyle. However, that was not to be and she trained as a radiation therapist, married, had 2 daughters and settled in Toronto.
She returned to her artistic roots later in life than originally planned, but she realizes that her life lessons have informed her work in a way she could never have predicted.
Her paintings are guided by her intuition and are colourful and striking. Mostly using acrylic and collage, they have been described as magical, irreverent, fantastical and challenging at times. She likes to push the boundaries. You may be attracted by the brightness of the colours or the unusual juxtaposition of figures, but you will always be drawn into the stories and perhaps not so hidden messages.
The highlight of her career so far was being accepted into the 2019 Salt Spring National Art Prize competition. 50 artists were selected from a field of 2000.
In 2014, she presented a project that she co-led at the renowned Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Hospital on narrative writing and art in Helsinki at the International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists.
Her work is collected internationally and she is active in outdoor art fairs, local galleries and online.
Most recently Gail was the co-gallerist of the Jackalope Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I am an intuitive abstract painter featuring figurative images both human and animal. Mostly using acrylic paint and often collage, I create otherworldly playful scenes that invite the viewer to find the story that is often humorous and sometimes challenging.
