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E Colin Williams ARCA Art Collections

Shop for artwork from E Colin Williams ARCA based on themed collections. Each image may be purchased as a canvas print, framed print, metal print, and more! Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Artwork by E Colin Williams ARCA

Each image may be purchased as a canvas print, framed print, metal print, and more! Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

About E Colin Williams ARCA

E Colin Williams ARCA **Please note: This website is maintained by the artist's daughter, Nikki. That said, Dad and I share a house, so all your comments and questions are passed along promptly. It's just, Dad doesn't do this online stuff and would much prefer to be out in his studio creating art. Fair enough, but someone has to let the world know what he's up to, right?**

E. Colin Williams, NDD, A.R.C.A.
Born in 1935 in Ryhope, U.K., E. Colin Williams has worked in all media and is an accomplished printmaker, but most frequently paints with oils and in a representational manner. From his earliest years, E. Colin Williams never saw himself as separate from the landscape that contained him. Some of his earliest sketches were like simple topographical maps, others were drawings of the world around him - the pit heap in Ryhope, the docks at Sunderland, the rugged coastline and the North Sea. As a child he drew obsessively: the streets of the village, the sea, the coast, the farms, fields, roadways, and rocky outcroppings of the County Durham of his childhood. By the time he was fifteen, there was no doubt he could ever be anything other than an artist.

Between 1952 and 1961 (with the exception of two years of compulsory military service), Williams studied art at the Sunderland College of Art and the Royal College of Art in London on full scholarships, graduating with a degree in Painting in 1961 and receiving the designation of ARCA (Associate of the Royal College of Art).

In 1962 Williams moved to Australia where he taught at the National Art School in Sydney from 1962-1969. During his time in Australia, the artist won thirty juried art prizes (including the prestigious Mosman Art Prize) until he was asked to stop entering the competitions and serve as a judge himself. Williams also exhibited in numerous group exhibitions and one-man shows including at the Darlinghurst Gallery, Dennis Gittoes Studio, Dominion Art Gallery, and the National Art School.

In 1969 Williams was invited to become the first Artist-in-Residence at the Banff School of Fine Art (now the Banff Centre). Exhibitions soon followed in Banff, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Williams' intimate depictions of the Canadian landscape soon found homes in some of Canada's most well-respected public (the National War Museum, the Lord Beaverbrook Gallery), corporate (Sony Canada, IBM Canada, the Royal Bank of Canada), and private collections.

In 1974, Williams was selected to participate in the Canadian Armed Forces Civilian Artist Program. This trip resulted in a one-man show at the Currie Barracks near Calgary that featured sketches and oils recording the day-to-day work of Canadian forces in the Middle East.

Between 1975 and 1988, Williams exhibited widely in the USA and Canada with works being selected for inclusion in exhibitions as diverse as the National Oil Industry Art Exhibit at the Mitchell Museum in Mount Vernon, Illinois and various galleries across Canada. Paintings were selected for reproduction by organizations like the Calgary Flames, the Canadian Olympic Committee (limited edition commemorative lithograph of Mount Allen), and the Royal Trust.

In 1987 Williams began to work as a muralist, and since then has completed numerous works on a grand scale in BC, Alberta, Washington State, Illinois, and Nevada.

Following several years of caring for his wife during a lengthy illness and later, recovery from his own open-heart surgery, Williams has returned to the work he enjoys most - exploring the landscape through the creation of large oil paintings.

Paintings
Colin's main subjects are land- and cityscapes, occasionally with industrial themes. While on assignment for Canada's National Defense Department, his paintings incorporated military personnel and equipment. In Australia, Williams was the winner of numerous art prizes and, more recently, he was awarded a medal in Florence at the Caterina d'Medici International Painting Competition.

Reproductions
Williams' work has been reproduced in a number of limited edition lithographic reproductions including a sold out edition of Mount Allen, created to commemorate the opening of the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta.

Murals
In 2002, Williams' design won an open competition judged by the Chicago Art Institute for the inaugural mural in the Ottawa, Illinois mural program. The historical theme depicts the role of the Pelletier Glass factory in the city's development. Other commissions with historical themes commissions include a 7'6"x 35' mural for the Chemainus (British Columbia) Festival of Murals, a 7'x 14' wall painting for The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, and the first mural to be painted in Ely, Nevada. In 1988, Colin produced a 14'x 45' mural for the Centennial Mural Society, Long Beach, Washington. In 1990 he carried out a commission for the LacLaBiche, Alberta, Historical Society, tracing the area's commerce from its beginnings in the fur trade through to 1920.

Illustration and Design
Using a humourous cartoon-style, Williams illustrated Wordplay (Sono Nis Press, 1997). Williams also provides the illustrations for the syndicated Wordplay columns that appeared in newspapers from Victoria to Calcutta and Papua New Guinea. His line drawings illustrate the novel, Battle for Carnillo by Nikki Tate. He has also created designs for projects as diverse as corporate logos, commemorative coins, parade floats, and stage sets.

1952 - 1956 Studied at the Sunderland College of Art, U.K, receiving the National Diploma in Design (NDD) and Teacher's Certificate.

1956 - 1958 Compulsory Military Service, including 18 months' active service on Cyprus

1958 - 1961 Studied at the Royal College of Art, London, U.K., receiving ARCA (Associate of the Royal College of Art)

1962 - 1969 Taught at the National Art School in Sydney, Australia

1969 - 1971 Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre, as well as sessional instructor at the
University of Calgary, Alberta

1971 - 1977 Worked as full-time artist

1977 - 1982 Artist-in-Residence at Keyano College, Fort McMurray, AB, also developing new programs, such as University Transfers

1982 - Present Working as full-time painter from his home in Victoria, B.C., Canada.

Some of the collections in which the artist's work may be found:

Public:

The National Collection, Canberra, Australia
The Canadian War Museum
Alberta Art Foundation
Lord Beaverbrook Gallery, N.B.
University of Ottawa
The Banff Centre
Keyano College, Fort McMurray, Alberta
Government of the Province of Alberta
Royal Canadian Legion, Alberta Command
The Devonian Foundation

Corporate:

Royal Bank of Canada, Vancouver
Bank of Montreal, Calgary
Banque du Canadien Nationale, Montreal
Royal Trust Company, Calgary
Foothills Hospital, Calgary
Shell Canada Resources
Dome Petroleum
Petro Canada
Syncrude Canada
Nabor's Drilling
Hudson's Bay Oil And Gas
Canada City Services
Gulf Oil Canada
Canadian Superior Oil
AMOCO Canada
Chevron Canada Resources
Alberta Energy Company
Pan Canadian Petroleum
Sceptre Resources
Comstock International
SONY Canada
IBM Canada
Abitibi Paper Corporation
Alberta Government Telephones
Coca Cola Canada
Alberta Wheat Pool
Canada Safeway
Pittfield, McKay, Ross
Clarkson Gordon
Unilever, Australia

Williams' work is held in dozens of private collections in the United States, Canada, Japan, the UK, and Germany.