Bill Garrison

Living amidst the beautiful landscapes of Arkansas, Bill Garrison finds inspiration for his paintings literally in his own back yard. He doesn’t have to travel very far to search out a clear water creek, waterfall, pond or lake that will become the subject of his next painting. The majority of Bill’s paintings include water even if it is only a puddle reflecting the awesome fall colors of the trees behind it.

His paintings hang in many prestigious corporate collections including the UAMS Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, Hospitals and medical facilities in Fort Smith including Arkansas Colleges of Health Education, Hot Springs and Fayetteville, the Fort Smith Convention Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas; Arkansas Tech University's Williamson Hall in Russellville, Arkansas; Tyson Food Headquarters in Fayetteville, Arkansas; the Patrick Henry Hays Senior Center in North Little Rock, Arkansas; Merrill Lynch Corporate offices, and the Arkansas Court of Appeals Justice Building, both in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Bill and his wife, Gloria, were selected as the first Artists-In-Residence at Buffalo National River in 1996, and in 1998 at Glacier National Park.

Bill’s work has received many awards in local as well as in international c...

Bill learned the basics of oil painting in his high school years from a professional artist in Texarkana. After a career in a non-art related field he furthered his studies in painting with workshops from artists whose work inspires him. Over the years Bill has developed a style of his own and shares what he has learned with other artists through teaching workshops.

Painting plein air (outdoors on location) is the best teacher of all and is the most enjoyable form of painting. I lose all sense of time and become oblivious to hardships such as weather and insects when standing in front of a beautiful scene in nature with a paintbrush in my hand.


Artist's Statement
Being an artist is a continuous learning process. I think I have learned more from the process of plein air painting than from any other source. Painting on location outdoors forces me to paint more quickly and intuitively because of the constantly changing lighting conditions. When I paint in the studio I like to work from studies I have done on location. If I paint using photographs as a reference, it is my goal to make the painting look as if it were painted on location. I have learned that it takes more than merely duplicating a photograph to make a good pain...

March of 1997 an exhibit of Arkansas Landscapes by Bill Garrison at University of the Ozarks in Clarksville Arkansas Stephens Gallery, Walton Fine Arts Center.

August 2004 The Arkansas River Valley Arts Center provided a solo show of paintings by Bill Garrison titled "Arkansas Treasures"

January 2015 solo exhibit at South Arkansas Art Center in El Dorado Arkansas.