Georg Willams

Born in Biloxi, Mississippi on January 2, 1953, Georg grew up in Houma, an oilfield boomtown in the middle of the marshlands and swamps of southern Louisiana. His main hobbies as a youth were girls and art (in that order).

His dad, advising him that painting was a waste of time unless you get paid for it, became his manager (receiving 90% of the profits). This gave young Georg a lot of practice in making people look good on canvas (and how not to get involved with unscrupulous agents who also happen to be your father). He began selling his portraits at the tender age of 15.

After a tour in the army, he spent a year roaming around the country doing odd jobs (when necessary) and avoiding any work when possible. Eventually finding himself back in the New Orleans area, Georg began pursuing the hobbies of his youth (girls and art). The first hobby delaying the development of the second. He studied art for an unreasonable amount of time at Nicholls State University. Afterward, he spent years un-learning what he was taught and learning about art for himself.

As the owner of an art gallery in Houma, and later in New Orleans, Georg made a living selling other people's pictures, or framing them, and teaching art classes - where he stressed that art cannot be handed over by teachers but must be found by the students themselves. After marriage and divorce toned down his interest in his first hobby, he began concentrating all his energies on raising his two daughters (now the main women in his life), and a career in fine art. Which brings us to the present and cats and dogs.

Georg changed his painting style from the photo realism of his commissioned portrait days back to the simpler, more caricatured style of his boyhood. He figured that getting a laugh from someone was a much better compliment than the "that's very interesting" or "it looks just like a photograph" he got from the patrons (critics) of his realistic art. After seeing animals in many of Georg's paintings, a friend suggested he try doing dog and cat portraits - head and shoulder, like a passport or yearbook photo. The pet portraits became so popular that he was forced to quit his job and sell his kids (just kidding) so he could paint full time.

The kids, Kate and Sarah, are grown up now. They both inherited their father's talent and like him, neither one knows what to do with it. All three now live, work, and play in Austin, Texas.

Georg's artwork is available for:
Gallery Purchases
General Licensing
Event Licensing

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