US Art

William Tolliver

Author Unknown

January/February 1994

Home Base: Atlanta, Ga.

Years in Print: Eight

Number of releases: 26 signed and numbered prints including 16 serigraphs, 12 posters

For more print Information: William Tolliver Art Gallery, Inc. Ste C-203 2300 Peachtree Rd., Atlanta, GA 30309: 800)828-1361.

Featured Images: “Sax” - “Basically I try to paint music so that you can see it as well as hear it. Hopefully the lines look like music, create the mood of music. The saxophone player is a composite type of person representing all saxophone players. What I wanted to do was freeze a moment in time more than portray an actual person. I was trying to paint a rich, mellow sound.”

Rhythms of life: “Music is one of my first loves. All of my uncles played guitar, and I grew up in Vicksburg, Mississippi - that’s where my love of the blues came from… But I like to paint a lot of different things; my mother, sisters, cousins, landscapes…. I don’t have any limitations on subjects: I don’t feel any restraints. Basically I’m like a kid in a candy store. I paint a lot of things from memory, out of my imagination.”

Humming a familiar tune: It’s natural for me to paint landscapes because I live in the country. I try to capture the rustle of the leaves or the smell of the forest. You have to paint what you know and what you’re influenced by. The subject matter changes according to where you’re at, but the direction is the same.”

Emotions in harmony: “I try to paint moods and emotions (instead of what people see), which is a hole lot more of a challenge. Most of the time I think the feelings are happy, jazzy, even bluesy. This is what separates people who paint from true artists. Art has to do more than be technically good -- it has to move people.”

Not just a solo: “My works has had a great response, and that’s a tremendous blessing. Somebody from my background making a living as an artist is more than a dream come true, it’s from God. You give all praise to Him. You have to share what He’s given you with the world.”