Eclectic is the background of N.N. Williams, who is a third-generation Angeleno. Born in Hollywood, Williams won his first national art award at age 12, conducted tours of the Acropolis in Greece, worked as a security guard at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, served eight years in the U.S. Coast Guard, and has appeared in 15 motion pictures and more than 300 television programs. His paintings, drawings and caricatures over the years are now in the private collections of Dean Martin, Sen. Barry Goldwater, the Cecil B. deMille estate, Armistead Maupin, Carroll Righter and both Universal Studios and Motown Records.
Williams is a self-taught artist. At an early age,
he attended the California College of Arts and Crafts (in Berkeley)
-- for one
day. He received his BA degree in 1962 from UCLA cinematography
.
"I began drawing when I was four," Williams recalls, "and while I had no particular encouragement, I had no discouragement either. I didn't play with other kids... I only had art -- and that was fulfilling in its own right."
Williams lives his art as he lives his life in his
California Craftsman home, built in 1917 in a secluded glen in Beverly
Hills'
Benedict Canyon. "Other than my VCR, this home and almost everything
in it -- is just as it was in 1917.
It's perfect -- I'm two miles from
the Beverly Hills Hotel and Sunset Boulevard, but tucked away in a
rustic canyon with birds, coyotes, deer, squirrels... and raccoons
lined up
twelve deep at feeding time. I'm living in the world of my grandparents
-- and I like it just fine."
Williams said that "California plein air art is similar to the art of French impressionists, but wrongly dismissed as a poor imitation. The purity and symmetry of nature is uplifting for any artist or anyone who appreciates art. While paintings created 'on the plain' were laid aside for half a century. California's world prominence today has created interest in our culture -- whether it's music, film or art. I've lived, worked and painted in several places in California .. and the mountain, shorelines and forests provide an abundance of subjects unrivaled anywhere in the world."
