Artist Spotlight - Paul & Beverly Williams
Submitted by Paul & Beverly Williams
Williams Design Studio
1470 Hwy 7A, Bethany, Ontario
705-277-2666
Paul and Beverley have lived in 'downtown' Bethany since January 1977 when they bought the old General store and changed it into their studio and gallery.
Thirty years later they learned that an ancestor of Paul's, Levi Sisson, once owned that building and ran a General Store. Paul's ancestors, John and Mary Sisson, had emigrated from England in 1837 with 10 children and settled in Bethany where family descendants still live.
Beverley studied Art & Design at OCA in Toronto and Paul studied Cartography at Seneca Coll. They met at Black Creek Pioneer Village where they were guides and dressed as Pioneers and they were married there in 1971. They decided to start their own business in 1974 and had their first shared studio in Brooklin, Ontario.
They have shown their sculptural leather and handwoven tapestries around the world and have their work in public and private collections in Scotland, Australia, U.S.A., Canada and many other countries. Locally they have created Donor Walls for the Millbrook Medical Centre, Millbrook, the Boardroom Appreciation wall for Community Care, Lindsay and the Omemee Medical Centre main room as well as the Liftlock Hockey Assoc., Donor & Volunteer Appreciation Wall, Evinrude Arena, Peterborough.
Paul designed and built the Buckhorn Community Centre, 25th Anniversary Commemorative Water Feature and they created an 18' tall Maple Tree for the lobby of the Best Western Inn and Conference Centre, Cobourg, Ontario.
They have shown their fountains and garden art at many Canada Blooms Shows in Toronto and at the Peterborough Garden Shows each spring. Every Mother's Day they open their studio and SECRET GARDEN along with other local artists for their annual ROLLING HILLS STUDIO TOUR.
Bev & Paul enjoy meeting visitors and showing everyone their fountains, garden art, frogs, fish and delightful faeries hidden among the flowers.
