Bill was born and raised in a (then) rural area east of Golden, CO. He began drawing with serious intent (copying comic book characters) at age three and painting in oils at the age of eight. His first commissioned painting was completed for the custodian at his grade school at age ten. As a kid, he won two bicycles and a nice .22 rifle from the Denver Post in cartoon contests. Sports and academics occupied most of his time in high school and he continued to draw and paint with good artist friends. Bill graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1970, where he served as the art editor, head cartoonist, and frequent cover artist for the school’s “Log” magazine. Many of his irreverent cartoons are still considered classics at the Academy, and are often reprinted in Academy calendars and publications. Bill served as a Marine Corps Officer during the Vietnam war for five years after graduation from the Academy, and began his lifelong involvement with computers while in the Corps. Bill has worked steadily as a freelance illustrator and commissioned artist for over forty years, completing hundreds of portraits, landscapes and wildlife commissions and a wide variety of illustrations, cartoons, and graphic designs. He has given art his full-time effort since 2004, and has won many awards in shows and contests, including “2011 Featured Artist” for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, first place in the contest for the 2009 Wyoming Conservation Stamp, “Paint America” Top 100 (three paintings), “Arts for the Parks” Top 100, and “Arts for the Parks” Mini 100.
Besides painting, outdoor activities dominate Bill’s free time: hiking, snowshoeing, camping, rafting, biking, hunting and fishing. His love of the outdoors permeates and inspires his art. He was a Master Falconer for over ten years, hunting with almost every type of falcon, buteo, accipiter, and eagle available in the US. He was also a partner in a rafting and camping equipment rental business in Alaska for 16 years, and spent most summers there fishing for salmon, rainbows, grayling and char on some very remote Alaskan rivers. Bill also designs and builds websites for small businesses, including this one.