About The Artist
A Statement by Bill’s gallerist Jan Sofie about his Florals, Slot Canyons and Climate Change Paintings:
Bill Russell exhibits a generous affection for the natural world and places the birds and flowers of his attention in composed scatterings, often on a flat field for scrutiny like a charming abbreviated guidebook. His large-scale paintings of magnificent slot canyons in Utah portray dark and vigorous brush outlines of major forms that appear supernatural in hue, but actually radiate their true pigments of earth. His climate change paintings depict a dramatic fire and ice landscape, inspired by the artist’s trip to Iceland and his fascination with the place and its obvious signs of global warming. Several works depict icebergs that have broken away from the melting polar icecap, becoming vivid novel forms as they slowly thaw. Strange characters also appear in the paintings – in kayaks, on a Nordic sailing ship, or as bathing-capped swimmers treading the inhospitable waters – and these add an ironic twist to worlds of ancient beauty alongside the harsh awareness of humankind’s impact.
Bill Russell stays creative by working in a variety of media and skill sets, as a painter, web designer, illustrator and visual journalist. Born and raised in Canada, Bill earned his degree from Parsons School of Design in New York. Then he began a successful 40-year career as an illustrator of books, magazines and advertising.
For eight years he was an Adjunct Professor of Illustration at the California College of the Arts. He was a staff artist at the San Francisco Chronicle for seven years. He’s had art residencies at Recology San Francisco and the Kala Art Institute, Berkeley.
Bill has shown his work in a variety of settings, including Stanford University, SFMoMA Artists Gallery, Marin MOCA, California College of the Arts, Sofie Contemporary in Calistoga and Reactor Gallery in Toronto, Canada.
His paintings can be found in private collections throughout the Bay area. He publishes his writing on his Substack: IllustratedJournalism.com, which is about reportage art. See his paintings at BillRussellFineArt.com.
Acrylic Paint, Watercolor, Drawing, Digital Art
Bill’s studio is located at Mark Drive Studios, 11 Mark Dr., San Rafael, CA, 94903
Studio Information
Mark Drive Studios
#18
Contact Information
4158461655
Exhibitions & Press
2024 ECO EVOLUTION: Empower for Change, Sausalito Center for the Arts
2023 Winter’s Bloom, Sofie Arts Contemporary, Calistoga
2022 Ice Show, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato
2022 Contemporary Botanicals, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, CA
2019 So Far, Sofie Arts Contemporary, Calistoga, CA
2015 Stanford Art Spaces, Palo Alto, CA
Education
1976 BFA, Parsons School of Design/The New School, New York, NY
