William (Bill) K. Stidham came to painting after a bruising experience trying to get his contemporary fiction novel published. Having spent four years in writing, editing, choosing an agent, more editing, then shopping publishing houses, he hit a disappointing dead end. Bill, at that point, decided to pick up a watercolor kit from the local Walgreen's in order to do something different with his creative energy.

The initial paintings came out better than expected and offered encouragement. He could paint quickly what he was feeling and had something beautiful to show for it, as opposed to writing, where one can labor for year and still draw blank, empty, quizzical stares for all the effort. Fueled by more tumultuous experiences in his life, William dove deeper into the watercolor medium as a way of expressing what evidently needed to be released. Out of those internal dialogs came the cathartic realization of the feminine archetype that he painted for a number of years, and that is featured in the "Wine, Women and Dreams Series."

With each painting, more was revealed about him, and what needed to be healed in his human condition became more illuminated. He refers to his paintings as a "spiritual exercise" where God takes over. He challenges himself with every painting by destroying them, then bringing them back to life. Not having a formal education in art, he looks at this ability to communicate with others through art as a gift.

As Bill puts it, “I have been fortunate enough to be given my own style. Watercolors can never be mastered and God is in the perceived mistakes that eventually become a new extension of who I am and where I am going. The so- called mistakes end up becoming a new direction."

Bill currently resides in Austin, TX. He asks you to not to be critical of where you stand with your knowledge of art. He sure doesn't. Whatever touches you is a good enough reason to take it home and “give it love.”