J.K. Williams
United States
J.K. Williams considers herself to be primarily a “Boston” school painter through the line of Hilary H. Holmes, R.H. Ives Gammell, Wm. MacGregor Paxton, Jean Leon Gerome, Paul Delaroche, Antoine-Jean (Baron) Gros, and Jacques-Louis David. Her mentor for many years was the late artist Robert Douglas Hunter of the Boston area. Ms. Williams left rural life in Ohio as the daughter of a sharecropper to pursue her interest in fine arts in New York City. She earned a BFA with Honors from Pratt Institute.
A life-long realist at a time when the art world and art education focused on abstraction, Ms. Williams continued to pursue realism through studies at the Art Students League and in her studio while earning her way in the world, working as a jeweler for Tiffany for many years. Her work with fine metals and gemstones, and the perfectionism required by Tiffany, may have contributed towards her love for texture, detail and clear colors.
While many realists’ work appears much less detailed when viewed up close, Ms. Williams’ feels that “if you can see a detail in the actual subject at a distance of a foot, I often want that detail in my work to be perceivable up close.” Therefore, Ms. Williams often takes much more time than many other realists to complete a work and has been known to use sable brushes sized as small as 000000, especially when doing miniature paintings, extreme closeups or the textures of feathers or fur. In the past few years, she has added miniatures done in the monotype process to her usual mediums of oils and watercolor.
Ms. Williams has participated in countless national and international juried exhibitions at a wide variety of art centers, art clubs and museums in New York and across the USA. She also had a solo exhibit and has participated in group exhibits at Hudson Guild’s galleries in New York, and has exhibited frequently at the Salmagundi Club of New York for the past few years.
The artist has received several “Best in Show” awards, and her oil painting, “Trooper” appeared in Fine Art Connoisseur in their July 2018 issue.
A few of the most recent awards included “Honors Finalist” in the American Academy of Equine Art's 2018 Online Showcase, “Top 75" in Southwest Art Magazine's 2013 Artistic Excellence Competition, “Finalist” in The Artists Magazine's 30th Annual Art Competition 2013, “Honorable Mention” in the International Museum of Contemporary Masters of Fine Art Salon International 2012 and a "Top Sixty Award" in their 2010 Salon International. She was a Merit Scholarship recipient at the Art Students League and was cited for top work in class shows there.
The artist is currently an Artist Member of the Salmagundi Club, an Associate Member of Oil Painters of America, Life Member of The American Society of Classical Realism, Life Member of the Art Students League of New York, and a Signature Member of the Academic Artists Association.
* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 14th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.
