Featured Artist Interview
This month Art Core had the special opportunity to speak with
an artist and teacher whose influence in the classroom stretches more than 20
years and has touched thousands of people. As an artist, William
Middleton Davis III, known to his friends and family as Bill Davis,
captures the soul of his subjects and locations in a way that makes us feel we
know them and have been there to enjoy them.
My dad had been an art major at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia during my early childhood. To help pay the rent and buy groceries, he painted portraits. The aromas of linseed oil and turpentine apparently got into my blood. My first success as an artist came while in first grade. I was awarded a ribbon at the Effingham County Fair in southeast Georgia for a crayon illustration of the childhood song, “I’m A Little Teapot”. Since then, I’ve always thought of myself as ‘an artist’. My parents and most of my teachers were very supportive.
Art Core: You have a variety of styles. Could you tell us some more about your work?
I feel most comfortable with an ordinary graphite pencil and a piece of paper. Over the years I’ve developed two distinctive styles of drawing. I usually have several unfinished pieces on my drawing board or tacked to the wall, pieces that can’t be completed in one sitting. These are usually pretty tight, belabored and somewhat realistic. I also find enjoyment and great satisfaction in doing quick sketches. Lately, I’ve been doing loose, gestural studies of musicians during their performances. That goes well with my love for music.
I enjoy drawing people, but am also inspired by old things, be it textured with wrinkles or rust. I find myself being attracted to old buildings and old machinery, especially as they’re being reclaimed by nature and time. I understand this has to do with ‘Post-modernism’.
Art Core: What famous artists have influenced you, and how?
In one-way or another all that I see influences me. A varied list of my favorite artists would have to include (in no particular order): Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Georgia O’Keeffe, Andrew Wyeth, Thomas Hart Benton, M.C. Escher, Chuck Close, Robert Crumb, Ron English, Christoph Mueller, Scramble Campbell and Will Jacques. As an art major at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, I took four quarters of art history, so have been influenced by many artists. Since then, I have taught art in public school for almost twenty-five years, and am presently teaching an evening Drawing/Art History class at Waycross College. Through my profession as an art educator, I continue to explore for my students as well as for myself, numerous artists, both from history and today. However, the art of personal friends and family is especially dear to me. Although not ‘famous’ for their art (yet), my father, William, painted portraits and landscapes. He taught me my first real art lessons and made his art library available to me. My eldest daughter, Abby, is a middle-school art teacher and makes beautiful paintings. While in college, she studied painting in both Ecuador and in Mexico. Her work expresses influence from those cultures. She and her family reside in Vancouver, Washington. My youngest daughter, Sarah, is in her senior year at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville Georgia, majoring in art, with plans to continue with her Masters in Art Education. She’s been concentrating on painting and printmaking with a minor in art history. Her paintings and prints are outstanding. My son, Adrian, in fourth grade this year, shows much promise as an artist as well. He has an amazing imagination that just flows from his fingers. I continue to learn from, and be inspired by all of these artists.
Art Core: As a teacher, what lesson are you trying to instill in students?
Above all, I try to instill a sense of curiosity in my students, as well as teaching them the value of observation and practice.
Art Core: What do you do for fun (besides painting and drawing)? I enjoy bicycling, kayaking, and just going for a walk in the woods and down by the river. I always take my camera. I love listening to music, as well as the sounds of nature. Family and friends are also very important to me.
As with most artists, I’m definitely a ‘visual’ thinker. I carry a sketchbook and a camera with me wherever I go – and quite often use them. I return to those collected images for inspiration.
Art Core: How have you handled the business side of being an artist?
Being a public school art teacher leaves me little time for doing business. However, over the years, I’ve sold quite a few pieces, through exhibitions and commissions. I occasionally do commercial work, but don’t particularly enjoy that. After retirement in a few years, I’ll likely change my attitude.
Get a sketchbook, and start drawing - regularly. Use it as a journal, recording what you see. Visit galleries and museums. Read about other artists, and about their tools, their techniques and their styles. Find your own style.
You can see more of Bill's work on his facebook page