Dean Williams art

 

DEAN WILLIAMS ARTIST BIO

 Dean Williams

Dean Williams was born in Johnson City, Tennessee on Feb. 3,  1962 and has lived mostly in Andrews, North Carolina since 1968.

     Dean became obsessed with drawing at an early age and began painting when he was 18. His art has always been a combination of influences from  events going on around him as well as obscure diversions developed from a detached imagination. He uses his work as a personal diary and finds that drawing and painting are sometimes easier than human interaction.

     As a die-hard blues enthusiast, Dean’s art is music inspired. He opened a music store in 2002 which started almost accidentally after a record collecting binge. The store, known simply as Dean’s,  sells records, CDs, movies, books antiques and oddities. Dean’s eventually doubled as his personal outsider folk art gallery. Operating the store also made it possible for him to provide for his wife Ann and four children while pursuing his art career in a musical environment.

     Dean’s art contains a wide range of subject matter, but also features many reoccurring themes.

His work features blues musicians, homicidal cowboys, religious folklore, beer bottles, olives, roller coasters, clowns, bees and monkeys, all in the same cosmic hurricane. Most of the acrylic paintings are made on recycled lumber and random things found in thrift shops. The backgrounds are achieved through multiple layers of primer and paint which is sometimes followed by sanding.

     Another body of work is a series of ink on paper drawings which often serve as sources for his paintings. These drawings also contain esoteric writing which sometimes appear later on paintings as well as everything from personal notes to overheard discussions.

     Dean’s philosophy of art is that art should not be separate or more lofty than everyday life. He would be as glad to exhibit his work in a barber shop or bar as he would be to have it displayed in an art gallery. As a self taught outsider folk artist, Dean enjoys the art of children and mental patients as much as the work of established artists. His future ambitions are to do more assemblage work which will be combined with his painting and drawing and to help promote other artists in his local area. He believes that every person has an artist inside that is plotting to get out.