TAWA at 45
The Exhibition
Bill Donnelly
Sandscape
wax crayon on black paper, 2023; 27″h x 35″w
Bill Donnelly (www.billdonnellyart.org) is a suburban Trenton native currently living in Southampton, Pennsylvania. He studied graphic design, illustration, and painting at Mercer County Community College in New Jersey, and the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His recent body of work includes images of the natural world found within his surrounding environment. He uses wax crayon on paper or canvas, working in multiple layers of color applied with randomly shaped strokes to create a rich, textural effect. By focusing on a relatively small area of interest, he creates an abstracted view of his subject, thereby inviting the viewer to form their own interpretation of the image. His work as a graphic designer has influenced his observational skills and is most evident in his use of graphic compositions within his work. Bill received the 2014 Hughes Award for an Artist Exhibiting at Phillips Mill for the First Time, with a drawing titled “Sticks in Snow.” The following year he was awarded the 2015 Phillips Mill Patrons Award for Drawing, Pastel, or Printmaking, for “Diptych: Mill Creek Rocks, Reflections.” He also received first place in the 2015 CBCC Byers Bucks Fever Art Exhibition for his drawing titled “Lacebark Pines”. Bill was awarded Best in Category at the Bethesda Row Arts Festival in 2021.