Meet William Hall | Mixed media artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with William Hall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi William, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
When creating original, authentic art it is paramont to take chances. You must be brave enough to risk ruining a piece in order to break through barriers and achieve significant advancement in your work as well as your career. If you become too comfortable, it is a sign that you need to mix it up and reach into new uncharted territory.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The hardest, and probably most important, thing for me to accomplish as an artist was coming up with my own personal direction. Every time I felt good about a piece, I would realized it was because it reminded of the work of another artist whom I admired. I struggled to come up with a statement that was uniquely mine. I realized that I was engaged in that old cliche “search for self”. I am a unique individual but how do I discover that uniqueness and how do I express it in my work? After the birth of my two sons, Ben and Zach, I realized that from day one they were very different from each other. What stood out to me was their likes and dislikes. Their tastes in food, what they liked to do, or what gave them joy. These were signposts of their inherent individuality. I began to observe my own preferences and tastes as clues to what should be evident in my work. Authentic style can’t be forced, you have to do the work and let it evolve naturally. Over the years I have worked in all types of mediums: oil, acrylic and water color. I have painted abstract, realistic and non-objective works but it wasn’t until we built our dream home that I became aware of the creative possibilities of cement. There were many masonry tasks that had to be done like pouring slabs, finishing walkways and setting tile. I became aware of the seemingly unlimited versatility of cement, thinset and grout. I have always been drawn to tactile surfaces and cement afforded me ways to include dramatic texture in my art. This new medium opened up new exciting avenues and directions in my work giving me satisfying results that no longer reminded me of another artist. Chance is a major factor in evolution. I’ve always been intrigued by fossils and the secret stories they contain. They have no designing hand in their creation. Random events and sheer chance imbue them with mysterious beauty and relevance. Using cement, I seek to mimic this evolutionary process. I try to remove myself from that process as much as I can and rely on serendipity and its innate ability to create harmony. I take my cues mainly from nature, sedimentary rock, burrowing insects, growth patterns in wood and disturbances in the surface of water. I am open to the mediums capabilities. I let it do what it does, rejecting what I don’t like and incorporating what I do like into the next piece. Through this learning process the work becomes more and more authentic. At present my method consists of casting the the carved and/or poured wax image with a sand mold, much in the same fashion as the formation of fossils. The cement can be colored by adding dry pigments to the mix. The image is cured and the wax is melted leaving a reverse image of the original. The cement is only about 1/2 inch thick and is mounted on a 2 inch panel of rigid construction foam. This makes the art strong while keeping it relatively light.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Klyde Warren Park is a great spot in the midst of downtown Dallas. It is a venue built partially atop an overpass of Interstate 30, The urban park is a beauitful oasis with food trucks and many planned outdoor activities. This welcome green space is surrounded by dramatic towering contemporary buildings of glass, stone and steel. It features a performance pavillion offering outdoor entertainment year-round. It is also in close proximity to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, Dallas Museum of Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center and the Crow Museum of Asian Art.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would be remiss if I didn’t express my gratitude to the late Dr. Edmond Pillsbury, past director of the Kimbell art Museum and chairman of fine arts at the Heritage Auction House. His belief in and admiration of my work was a great source of encouragement to me. His mentorship saw me through many incidents of self-doubt when my confidence was lacking. That being said, my ability to follow my dream and spend decades doing what I love is due in large part to the support and encouragement of my loving wife, Anita. She unselfishly, literally and figuratively, supported my endeavor to be a self-supporting artist. She willingly held down several “real jobs” while I produced a lot of bad art. She gave me the needed time to find my voice and become the artist that I am today. She is a talented graphic designer in her own right and offered relevant, and sometimes too honest, opinions that kept me humble and on track. Not many artists are lucky enough to have this incredible advantage. I am eternally thankful and aware that I probably don’t tell her often enough how much I appreciate her encouragement, support and belief in me and my art.

Website: WilliamHallArt.com

Instagram: Instagram.com/williamhallart/

Twitter: Facebook.com/williamhallart

Youtube: Youtube.com/williamhallart

Image Credits
All photos were taken by me of artwork that I created and I own all the copyrights.