Collection: William Hays
William Hays, printmaking Turners Falls, MA
William Hays has been creating beautiful works of art for more than 40 years. He began painting in watercolors as a teenager and eventually ended up with a degree in sculpture from the University of Alaska in Anchorage. After moving to Vermont from Alaska in 1987, he concentrated on painting in oils. He was regularly recognized as one of the region's leading painters creating primarily landscape images. His works in linocut prints began in 2007 with the encouragement of his late wife, Patricia. Since 2012 Hays has concentrated exclusively on printmaking. Hays' work is frequently included in juried exhibitions regionally and nationally where he has been singled out for recognition. His artworks grace the walls of private collectors in more than a dozen countries around the world. His work is exhibited in fine art galleries in the United States.
He says, "Landscape is the foundation of my inspiration. I often work more from memory or an impression than from a particular place. The compositions are the framework on which I hang a sequence of layered colors in rhythmic patterns to create a mood and a harmonious image. Using reduction printing techniques and multiple blocks allows me a level of complexity that suits my drive to create artworks which evoke my imaginings, my experiences, my creations.
The technical challenges and severe limitations of the medium have become a part of my natural vocabulary with time. I have become very fluid in changing many aspects of my original design as I go along. I'll often add additional blocks as I progress. The process of carving and printing an edition offers me much time to consider every aspects of each print as I am working. Most of the decisions about color are made during this time according to what has come before in the sequence of printing."
