STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 38
A STILLWATER VIBE
Jeff Williams transitions from architecture professor to award-winning painter
Jeff Williams painting,“ Little House on the Prairie”
As Jeff Williams approached retirement, he checked off the essential boxes.
With the help of a professional, a financial plan was in place.
With the support of doctors, improving his health was a focus.
While he had no control over it, his four grandchildren, now between ages 12 and 3, offer plenty of memorable days for“ Pops.”
Still, there was one priority Williams embraced that many overlook. He ensured that he was retiring to something, not simply from something.
When he finished his last day as a full professor of architecture at Oklahoma State University in 2017, he was committed to filling those newfound free hours with a fulfilling pursuit. In his case, that was watercolor painting.
Sketching, design and creativity were part of his architecture career, so painting was not an extreme leap. Now, you can find Williams in a studio with paintbrushes, canvases, easels, tubes of paint, bottles of varnish, and racks of frames. All are illuminated by special lighting.
Based on multiple awards and recognition, it has been a successful transition, often with a Stillwater, rural, or western vibe.
His painting entitled“ Little House on the Prairie,” a rural Payne County structure east of Stillwater, was honored with the Gold Medal for Water Media for painting at the Bosque Art Classic at the Bosque Arts Center Arts Council in Clifton, Texas.
Williams was commissioned to create a painting of the OSU Museum of Art to be presented to OSU President Emeritus Burns Hargis and First Lady Ann Hargis as the inaugural“ Dick and Malinda Berry Fischer Arts Impact Award” in recognition of the couple’ s contributions to the arts and the establishment of the OSU Museum of Art facilities.
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 38