A
rtist Todd A. Williams is a storyteller.
He has been one since the age of
7, when he first started sharing his
art with his friends. It was a passion that
he followed into college, into a career as a
professional artist for Hallmark, and into his
current job as a full-time artist. His collections,
all done in oil and focusing on Italy, the
Rocky Mountains and Americana, invite the
viewer to wonder about these characters and
scenes.
In his latest collection, the Legacy of
Nebraska, the narrative is about us – our
lives and our history – across every one of the
state's 93 counties. Williams, originally from
Central City, began the project in 2012.
In 2005 he started a series of paintings in
Vienna and Prague, eventually finishing
more than 50, some of which were completed
on-location and in the studio. He repeated this
method in 2007 in Italy, modeling his work
after the impressionistic and figurative work
of John Singer Sargent, a turn-of-the-century
American painter known for his portrait
work. He completed many works on-site, then
painted others once he returned to the U.S. off
26 NEBRASKAland • MARCH 2017
