WILLIAM MATTHEWS

Painting, Goldsmith, Jewelry Designer

City: Lillooet, British Columbia

Website: http://www.williammatthewsfineart.ca

Artist Statement: In 2006,I started to paint scenes of Lillooet B.C. that I could not ignore... the 'spirit of place ' seduction, as it were took hold. Since then I have expanded my mandate to paint, to interpret in oil, the region of Lillooet and the Bridge River Valley as I see and feel it.

Biography: Always creative, always attracted to art and natural design, I formally trained to become a goldsmith and jewellery designer. My art was eventually editorialized in Canadian Jeweler, Ornament L.A. and 18Karati Milan. With a successful career that incorporated couture, high end jewelry, I felt there was still something more to be expressed, but in painting, not 3D. Langara Fine Arts program -recommended painter /friend Barry Jones, Vancouver, I completed the 2 year traditional fine arts program .My art education continued with a friendship/mentorship with the late Cariboo painter, Sonia Cornwall. Living in Vancouver in the 90's ,I would drive up to the Cornwall ranch several times a year, where I became her studio assistant and she eventually invited me to critique her work until her death in 2006. I took weekly private studies in painting with Deborah Tilby of Victoria .In 2014 I offered work for sale and to date I have had 4 solo shows in Lillooet (where I live) and in GoldBridge/Gun Lake BC community. Painting these regions are my life's love.