Vacquero resident Ken Williams has been a painter since he was 6 years old. Ken and his high school sweetheart, Dayna, moved to Castle Pines in 2003. Father to Taylor and Trevor, Ken is now a grandfather to Taylor’s toddler, Kane (3). While Ken’s job is managing a brokerage firm, he is an avid artist and romantic, specializing in dynamic, whimsical oil paintings.

Ken’s artistic tale began in kindergarten, when he had nothing to present for show and tell, so he painted a firetruck during class. He stated, “The kids ‘oooh-ed and ahhh-ed’ at my work and I remember to this day how special that made me feel. I’ve been at it ever since.”

Ken attended Colorado Mesa University and achieved a commercial art degree. He then attended the Art Institute of Colorado to gain his visual communications degree. He founded a company called 4U2C, a print and design company in 1993, which he sold in 2008 to pursue his own art full time. Ken’s day job is managing a brokerage firm, and his evenings are dedicated to his art.

Ken began by dabbling in pen and ink; then he moved to pastels. In 2017, he finally settled on the oil painting medium.

His preferred method is to subvert many artists’ typical processes. Instead of starting on white canvas, Ken might paint the entire surface black, stating, “I treat the canvas as the shadow and build the painting outward from the areas touched by light.”

Ken uses flat brushes; he avoids precision and detail as much as he can, instead favoring the imagination that goes into creating and viewing art. “It’s only upon closer inspection that the viewers realize that their eyes are doing the work, assembling the image from suggestion rather than precision,” stated Ken. “I’m fascinated by how our brains fill in the gaps, and it is deeply satisfying when I can harness that perceptual magic.”

Ken’s inspiration comes from what he calls “living beings”— true art arising from something as simple as the sparkle in an eye. “There’s a whole story that can unfold in a glance,” he stated.

Bordering both the real and the fantastical, Ken’s paintings range from rock stars and superheroes to classic cars and cowboys, yet Ken’s living beings also include those alive in his imagination. “Ever seen a painting of a little girl holding out a marshmallow, hoping a dragon will toast it for her? (See inset photo above.) That’s the kind of work I enjoy. Not every piece is whimsical, but I do love crafting something unexpected—something that makes people pause, smile or wonder,” Ken explained.

Ken has turned his home into a gallery, collecting other artists’ work, too. He is also a collector of different spirits of bourbon whiskey, of which he has been known to trade a painting for a bottle or two.

Ken’s work has been displayed in many galleries over the years, and currently his art is at the ROX Arts Gallery in the Aspen Grove shopping center in Littleton.

For more information on Ken’s art, visit kenwilliamsartwork.com.

 

Article by Marly Holsman; photos courtesy of Ken Williams