William Crain

I arrived in Billings, Montana mid 2005 at an invitation from my daughter. I said buh bye to my peach and orange trees, hummingbirds, deep sea fishing, romping in the desert, and a kewl pad in Encino, CA. I brought 1000 pounds of Carrara Marble with me; and a portfolio from Los Angeles, CA. I Joined the Sandstone Gallery Co-op in 2005.

I’ve been an artist & stone carver most of my life with the exception of being forced to fight in the rice paddies of Viet Nam, where my few sketches decomposed. I’m self-taught. I attended the U. of Wyoming ’69 – ’72 with wife and first born, Jennifer, however on the heels of Viet Nam, my coping skills were a bit disoriented, and quit but did not abandon learning.

Start a new life with wife and new baby in Jackson, WY. I owned and operated my own gallery on the Square, “Raven Expressions” a successful business…however, the marriage fell thru and I spent 1982 and next 4 yrs in and out of galleries in Seattle and then back home to Los Angeles in 1984,…where I grew up. Yeaaaaa! I love LA.

Soon thereafter I was in the Golden State Sculptors Guild and The San Fernando Valley artists Co-op. Shows here ‘n there and then, an Agent! Omg! I had no idea I might ‘clean up well’… agent Paige Hollister spent years grooming me for the part…of successful artist. The reality is: ‘don’t quit your day job.

I am retired since 2008. Making art, birding, G-kdz, studying artists who came before me.

Daughter Jennifer and I went to see the 2^nd largest collection of art in the world in St. Petersburg, Russia. We also experienced the great art city of, Moscou. Dream of dreams X 10, to be sure Sept 2019, Opera, Ballet, and wonderful Art museums one after another.

For me art takes place when one applies an inner urge to express one’s interpretation of ‘whatever’ within parameters. Starting with the tools: gravity, hue, value, intensity, foreground, middle ground, background on a flat surface, utilizing rhythm, harmony, tension & relief, nuancing force lines, etc. The fun begins with each Challenge. BTW, Drawing is paramount.

I love painting from my drawings made from MY Photos one and all. I’m a ‘direct stone carver’ meaning: no drawing necessary. Alabaster, softer than marble, sepia to oatmeal I quarried in Anza Borrego, CA, and the Orange alabaster quarried in Parawan, Utah.

Carrara Marble, Michael Angelo Statuario, carves like butter and it’s a dream to be HAND carving in ~ it has no grain, therefore you can go anywhere with it…such a dream.

Pic taken while carrying Anemone, the swan in the opera, “Aida” by Guiseppe Verdi, right here in Billings, Montana

I recently caught onto Color Pencil and I am liking it. As both a prelim to larger works and as a finished work.

WEBSITE