BILLY KING
ARTISTS STATEMENT LC66
My start in art began with a South Hill grandmother, Grandma Hill. Then later a neighborhood art teacher, Vesta G. Robbins. Her classroom was a house just off of 29th and Grand. All my early experiences were with oils. At Sacajawea Jr. High I began to explore new mediums. A family summer vacation in Chicago allowed me to see Modern Art up close at the Univ. Of Chicago Art Museum. I was hooked. So was South Hill classmate Mike Berg. We privately shared our art discoveries, as it wasn’t common for youngsters to feel passionate about art. But we did.
Mr Fabian tried to keep me out of his art class at Lewis and Clark High School. My mom went to bat for me, and reluctantly Mr. Fabian let me in. He knew I was a troublemaker and expected the worse. Given an introduction to Cubism, one of my first tempra paintings went on to win a National Scholastics Gold Medal in painting! I loved art. The challenge that elevated art above sports or intellectual challenges was that not only were you to define your idea, but by using your own hands, you were to create your own concept in 2 or 3 dimensions. That to me seemed the greatest challenge of all; to physically create your ideas. Give them life. Wow! There was no end to the possibilities. Mr. Fabian gave me free reign to challenge my own ideas. And from that supervised freedom to explore, my commitment to the arts was formed. Over 50 years of professional art shows and art studios was the result. A grand adventure including travel, romance, awards, shows and the occassional disaster. But that’s where the learning takes place, in picking up the pieces of the idea that didn’t quite work.
It’s important to start early with art training. Not so much the right and wrong of it all, but rather the joy of being in the middle of a creation and realizing there is no place else in this world you’ld rather be.
Billy King
My start in art began with a South Hill grandmother, Grandma Hill. Then later a neighborhood art teacher, Vesta G. Robbins. Her classroom was a house just off of 29th and Grand. All my early experiences were with oils. At Sacajawea Jr. High I began to explore new mediums. A family summer vacation in Chicago allowed me to see Modern Art up close at the Univ. Of Chicago Art Museum. I was hooked. So was South Hill classmate Mike Berg. We privately shared our art discoveries, as it wasn’t common for youngsters to feel passionate about art. But we did.
Mr Fabian tried to keep me out of his art class at Lewis and Clark High School. My mom went to bat for me, and reluctantly Mr. Fabian let me in. He knew I was a troublemaker and expected the worse. Given an introduction to Cubism, one of my first tempra paintings went on to win a National Scholastics Gold Medal in painting! I loved art. The challenge that elevated art above sports or intellectual challenges was that not only were you to define your idea, but by using your own hands, you were to create your own concept in 2 or 3 dimensions. That to me seemed the greatest challenge of all; to physically create your ideas. Give them life. Wow! There was no end to the possibilities. Mr. Fabian gave me free reign to challenge my own ideas. And from that supervised freedom to explore, my commitment to the arts was formed. Over 50 years of professional art shows and art studios was the result. A grand adventure including travel, romance, awards, shows and the occassional disaster. But that’s where the learning takes place, in picking up the pieces of the idea that didn’t quite work.
It’s important to start early with art training. Not so much the right and wrong of it all, but rather the joy of being in the middle of a creation and realizing there is no place else in this world you’ld rather be.
Billy King
Jorge Rubio
Giclee Print, 10x8
$400
Taco Vendor
Giclee Print, 30x40
$800
Lowell's Happy Hour
Giclee Print, 30x36
$650