Biography - Marilyn Williams
BORN: June 12, 1951 Salt Lake City, Utah
EDUCATION: 1 year – Southern Utah State, Cedar City, Utah
½ year – University of Utah
Graduate – Wichita State University, 2007
MARRIED: Samuel M. Williams, 1973
CHILDREN: 6 (5 sons, 1 daughter) 9 grandchildren
KANSAS RESIDENT: 19 years
ARTIST STATEMENT:
During my years as a painting major at Wichita State, I focused my paintings around the theme of urban sprawl and the loss of agricultural life in America. I questioned what the loss of agricultural land and life style is doing to our land, our culture, our health, and our value system. In my oil and acrylic paintings and in prints, I included imagery of agricultural products and land, and the people who work the land. I hoped to appeal to the viewer’s conscience and remind them that the heart of our culture was, and still largely is, agriculture and the people who work the land.
Since my graduation in May 2007, I have focused my paintings on portraying scriptural (Old Testament, New Testament and Book of Mormon) messages in a modern-day setting. I am striving to remind the viewer that these Christian messages are just as penetrating and worthy of our attention today as they were when they were recorded in the Scriptures. I have also returned to a former passion for wildlife and landscape painting.