Will C. White
artist
Biography
Will C. White was an NYC ad agency creative director in the era of Woodstock, Andy Warhol and the Beatles. His TV commercials promoted everything from Alka-Seltzer and Triumph sports cars to Texaco and Pampers. He’s toured the country in a motor home, owned classic cars from the 50’s and likes jazz, steam locomotives and genealogy. He’s done illustrations for children’s books and guidebooks, drawn cartoons for magazines, taught computer skills to seniors and art to both adults and children.
Will, who grew up in Ohio, Maryland and North Carolina, lived and commuted to NYC from New Jersey for over 40 years. When he retired, he took up watercolors, a medium he likes for their luminosity, flexibility and minimum mess. His favorite subjects are animals and people, but his style and inspiration tend towards whimsy, surrealism, and magic realism. His art has won awards, he’s been honored with one-man shows, and his paintings are owned by collectors in eleven different states. He has been a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and is currently Secretary of the West Hills Art League.
Will currently lives with his wife in the Masonic Village retirement community in Aleppo.
Artist’s Statement
“I don’t paint what I see with my eyes; I paint what I see in my mind, because as much as I may enjoy the beauty or drama of what I behold, I find the products of imagination even more fascinating. To start with a landscape, for instance, and “build” upon it – is my idea of a good time. Sort of like a jazzman riffing on a theme – not simply an “interpretation” or “artistic license,” but a brand new concept. And the more unexpected it is, the better. I like the inventions of artists like Magritte and Odd Nerdrum, and I like interacting with the art as it emerges, so that what starts out as one idea often evolves into another. In the end, there is no greater delight than to produce something that has no explanation and yet is open to many explanations.”