Elizabeth Williams

Elizabeth Northcut Williams is a fine artist who lives in Johns Island, SC, with her husband, three children, rescue dog, and parakeet. Her studio is in what would normally be a formal living room, but she prefers to work in a space at home that risks occasional wild foot traffic from animals and children.

She grew up in Louisville, KY with family who valued making beautiful things. With that encouragement she received her BFA in painting from the University of Evansville and has been blessed with art “work” ever since.

Her paintings, drawings, murals, and installations can be found in the homes and businesses of collectors all over the country, including Mary Edna Fraser, Angie Hranowsky, and Shannon Bogan. She has never been represented by a gallery but has maintained a steady flow of commissioned portraits, landscapes, and murals for decades. Her relationship with interior designers has led to much of her work in the Lowcountry. Often, her commissioned projects spill over into small bodies of work that she sells directly to patrons through her website.

Elizabeth has participated in many juried exhibitions including Artfields and the City Gallery Piccolo Spoleto Annual Art Exhibit. In 2021 she won “best drawing” for her diptych, “Tell Me More.”

In addition to her own art practice, Elizabeth has instructed art workshops in several museums and galleries. She loves encouraging people of all ages and stages to appreciate their own creativity and process.

"My lifelong inclination to create has always been motivated by a desire to connect. I am fascinated with the push and pull of our relationships: with each other, our environments, our cultures, and the narratives we believe about the past, present, and future.Using a range of painting and drawing mediums, I combine figurative realism with expressive abstraction on oil-primed linen, panels or paper. In blending traditional portraiture with conceptual storytelling I can connect the “who" with the “why.” I honor the dignity of my subjects within the natural, physical world through the representational aspect of my work. My perceptual approaches establish how the figure fits within each composition and is a way to translate our internal human experience. I see this exploration of art-making as an extension of hospitality, and for that act of connection, I am forever grateful."