Meet 2013 Artisans Road Trip Artist Roberta Williams

 "Evening Road"

© Roberta Williams

Roberta Williams moved to Spirit Lake from Iowa City in July 2012. After her sons left for college, she and her husband, Greg, felt this area seemed like a great place to settle as “empty-nesters.”

From Roberta’s education in art at the University of Iowa, to a painting/muraling class in Italy, to owning a decorative painting business, her extensive experience and skill level lend itself to a wide range of subject matter and painting styles, including “old-world“ religious paintings, realistic Iowa landscapes in pastel, and playful watercolor batiks.

"A Mother's Love"

© Roberta Williams

As a decorative painter, Roberta worked through interior designers and architects, adorning the walls of many private homes and commercial businesses in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and Des Moines. She worked with the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and the University of Iowa Museum of Art on several exhibits, including Grant Wood’s Studio in Cedar Rapids. During a large renovation project in Schaeffer Hall on the University of Iowa campus, she painted columns in a marble finish to match what had been done over 100 years ago by Italian craftsmen.

"French Flower market"

© Roberta Williams

Her work has been seen in several publications including Better Homes and Gardens Home Ideas (Jul/Aug 2001) and Better Homes and Gardens Walls and Windows Ideas (spring 1999). In 2000, she was accepted by jury to the Iowa Arts Council Roster as an approved artist for public work. Most recently, her Iowa landscape painting in pastel “Northwest Iowa Beans” won Best in Show at the October 2012 Pearson Lakes Art Center Wanda J. Skogerboe Juried Exhibition.

Stop by again to learn more about the artists of the 2013 Artisans Road Trip!