Bill is a native Rhode Islander and spent most of his life in Massachusetts. He studied art at the Museum School in Boston, Montserrat College of Art, and at the classical atelier of Tom Ouellette in Boston. Over the years he has continues to study with some of the best realist painters in the country, including, David Kassan, Daniel Sprick, and Joel Carson Jones.

Bill’s primary focus has been on bringing a contemporary approach to realism in the traditional genres of still-life, portraiture and landscape. His landscapes are primarily focused on the specificity of place while transcribing the feeling and memory of that place through paint. His still-life focus stems primarily from objects that have become iconic to him through a life long encounter with them. These include subjects from the garden, stones from the sea, and vessels from potters and others he has collected over the years. His portraiture ranges from friends to commissioned work and focuses on a balanced search between the sitter’s individuality and their collective humanity.

He creates art because it allows him to experience his internal and external world more fully. “It causes me to pay attention and challenges me to grow. It is also the most effective way for me to share my inner world. I have an experience when I look at the world: it moves me physically, emotionally, and psychologically. I find that the art I create is a specific translation of that experience which I can share with those who view it.

Bill has participated in ten solo exhibitions, and many group exhibits. He has had representation throughout the US and now concentrates on working with New England galleries. He is also a member of the Copley Society in Boston. He paints in his Somerville studio but also works plein air primarily on Cape Cod and Cape Ann.

Bill Chisholm