Bill Tolley Biography

At the age of fifteen Bill Tolley won a special scholarship for St Martins School of Art in London as part of a new experiment in art education. It was a three-year course that took on ten boys and ten girls and was intended to catch pupils at a young age - enabling them to capture the spontaneous, naive approach to art. The idea was to create an artist with the ability to be 'free minded' and to capture this insight before it was lost through age. Bill Tolley did not actually apply for this scholarship; his teacher at the time was so impressed by his artwork that he submitted it without Bill Tolley knowing: needless to say that when the acceptance letter came through both Bill Tolley and his family were very surprised!
 

Bill Tolley completed his course at St Martins at the age of eighteen; he then enrolled to do his two- year National Service. This was followed by two years back at St Martins 'sitting in' on lectures while working part-time. He eventually became a freelance visualizer working for a number of advertising agencies, studios and mail-order companies. In 1969 Bill Tolley moved on to paintings and stained glass, abandoning the commercial sector of art.

Bill Tolley has many set views on art; he is forever exploring its boundaries and taking it that bit further. He does not own any of his paintings, and paints for the enjoyment of other people and the need to paint; rather than with the aim of making a profit. He believes that if you paint to earn money the image lacks the honesty and genuine feeling that is captured in a painting that is painted for the sheer need of painting.

Looking at his work over the years Bill Tolley has seen it evolve without realising - paintings are created through a mixture of different emotions and these can only be captured at one single point in time. He has once tried to re-capture an image and although on the surface the two images may have looked similar, he was not able to capture the depth of feeling within the initial image. Bill works with every image as an individual piece.

When working, Bill Tolley will stare at a blank canvas until inspiration comes to him. He will then 'run up' to the canvas and work vigorously. The painting will then come to a point where the original idea is no longer pertinent and the image on the canvas tells him what strokes and colours to use next; 'the

painting comes from within me. If he succeeds in attaining what he initially set out to do, then he believes that he has not done a good painting. Bill will start off with a 6" brush, and eventually work his brush size down as he zooms In on the detail. His motto is that 'a painting is finished when it is a waste of time adding to it', 'it is also what you don't do to an image that is as important as what you do do'. At this point Bill Tolley refers to minimalism; it is about the 'balance between an empty room and a full room that makes you feel comfortable'.

Bill Tolley is well read in philosophy, although when asked if he uses this as a point of inspiration his answer if a definite 'no'. To Bill s philosophy is an intellectual subject and most artists spoil their work by intellectualising it 'if you evaluate art it automatically loses that magical feeling'. In his own words 'philosophy satisfies the mind, whereas painting satisfies the emotions' 'Painting is not about being logical it is done emotionally' his work evolves rather than being contrived and it is that involved depth that makes it so intriguing.

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