about
Marlies Williams

Artist’s Statement

Growing up in the heart of the steel and coal industry during the post WWII era of West Germany, I developed my ability to express myself early in life through art. Oberhausen is and was one of the most densely populated areas with coal chimneys and iron smelting furnaces making up a large part of the landscape. The labor worn miners and steel workers all embodied life as I still remember my father’s large palmed hands. This made me aware of the basic human experience and environment. I gained the ability to connect deeply with my surroundings and use art to escape. I started painting with oils at age eleven. My family and friends became to appreciate my paintings of high country Alps and still life and bought them.

I studied architecture, married an American soldier and moved to the United States in 1962. I worked in architecture and construction in Charlotte, North Carolina for over 30 years. I raised my children with a full time career, which did not leave me with much time for painting. However, I have always felt the need to balance my life by exploring different mediums to express what is and always has been within me. In 1997, I decided to devote my life to my first love, art. I moved to St. Helena Island, South Carolina and found that escape, my child’s eye, the contrast from my youth. The Low country, with moss covered limbs and endless marshes that change with the season, express moods and life’s primal power. All this being totally different from my youth and yet so familiar as both extremes connect to my being. I love to paint these emotions in my landscapes, abstracts, still life and people.

I am self-taught although I have studied recently with a number of artists exploring different mediums and techniques. Once my paintings are thought through and sketched out, I work spontaneously. I find acrylic paints to meet my needs best for color and workability. Once an idea materializes in my mind I create many different paintings on the same subject. I do, however, like to work on different themes at the same time. I feel this keeps my subject fresh and new. Although acrylics are my preferred medium, I like to experiment with other materials and multi-mediums, traditional oils as well as in compressed stick form, watercolors, collages, and monotype prints.

My wish in this chapter of my life is to connect with those who recognize my love of painting in hope of our like appreciation of beauty.

Marlies Kaufmann Williams