Ryan Williams reflects on better times with First Impressions

ARTIST Ryan Williams longs for a time when things were slower, when people took the time to enjoy life, and had more patience and respect for others, life and their surroundings.

This desire is reflected in the pieces of his exhibition First Impressions.

Williams, 45, described himself as an “old soul” as he kept his work nostalgic.

“Back in time had a different feel to it. Now everything is ‘cringe’ (a slang youths used excessively to mean embarrassing or uncool). The youths have no love or passion. Everything is about right now.”

First Impressions was an ode to past impressionist artists who influenced him like Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Paul Gauguin. Williams said he was experimenting with the style as he still had a lot to learn, like getting shapes and textures right, but he was constantly improving.

Though proficient in pencil, watercolours, acrylics, pastels and pen-and-ink he chose to use mostly oils for the 18 pieces of the exhibition. They were impressionistic takes on Caribbean seascapes, landscapes, culture, architecture and figures. He also included one abstract piece to add some variety.

He told Newsday impressionist art was his style for now as he enjoyed being able to use all his materials including his palette knife, various brushes and different types of paints. The technique allowed him to use vibrant and muted colours, different brushworks and lighting, and he was able to cover a lot of different subject matters.

He said he sometimes changed his style to remain relevant but he wanted to see how far he could push his skill. As a result, he may change or mix styles in the future.

Once you cover all the basic styles, you could jump into anything you want. Maybe that’s what I want to do, cover all the bases, and I think I have so I could jump wherever I feel to jump.”

He said he usually took photos or people sent him images and he used whatever appealed to him in his art.

“The nice thing about the (impressionist) techniques is that you could take the most stupid shots and you can bring something out of it once you do the lighting and colour right.”

Despite the challenges of art supply costs, he diversifies his income through postcards and greeting cards which he sells to souvenir shops as well as a bit of graphic design, which was his profession before he turned to art full-time.

He has been a professional artist for over 20 years, continually influenced by his passion and persistence.

Mostly self-taught, Williams started to paint in secondary school. He said his home life was unpleasant and he used art as a way of channelling his feelings.

He recalled winning a school prize for academic excellence and using his reward money to purchase his first set of watercolours. Later on, his step-grandfather, then Barbados’ archbishop Granville Williams, gave him some money. He bought oil paint and started to practice with it.

After secondary school he took a manual graphic design course with the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme and another in innovative advertising. He then applied for a job doing simple graphics at a graphic design company. The manager took a chance on him which allowed him to learn a lot about the business.

Williams said he always saw himself working behind a big desk smoking a cigar. While he did not smoke, he eventually got the big desk when he started working as a freelance graphic artist and, because of his art, he hobnobbed with dignitaries at events.

Before that dream materialised however, he lived in St Ann’s which had two nearby art galleries – Art Creators and Normandie 1234. He said they were pivotal in his early career as they gave him the chance to show his work and get them sold.

There was also a souvenir store at the Cruise Ship Complex where the then manager advised him on what types of pieces tourists would like and buy. Another great influence in his life was then manager at On Location Art Galleries at what is now The Falls at Westmall. The manger saw his ability and encouraged him to continue painting, all while giving him occasional freelance jobs.
It all led to his first solo exhibition around 2006, Sports Scapes, which had a lot of paintings portraying some cricket action.

“I have a God-given talent. I think the Lord used this to get me out of poverty.”

As Williams grew older, he became more interested in the theory of art and started searching the internet for information. He read about the masters and tried his best to copy their work. He also looked for tutorials and refined his brush and colour techniques.

“I enjoy it. Not the money, because artists can have some hard times too. But I could manage it because I always have something to do. It’s the creativity and the innovation. That’s what I love and what will always keep me doing art.”

First Impressions will be showing from April 8-19 at Horizons Art Gallery, Mucurapo Road, St James.