"The Happy Painter"
William "Bill" Alexander
April 2, 1915 - January 24, 1997
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"You have to brainwash yourself, convince yourself, of your own
creative power in order to get that better tomorrow." Bill Alexander 1982
Reflections
"I love Mother Nature and the world that God has made. I have a small cabin on a beautiful lake in Canada. I like to take my boat out on the lake and catch fish for dinner. It is peaceful and relaxing, and with Mother Nature all around me I am inspired to paint."
"Art has made me a happy man. For as long as I can remember it has been a part of my life, and even in the bad times of war, art has gotten me by It is nice to know that art lives within all of us and that we all have an inner drive to be better. I have seen that even out of the ruins of war comes new life and a chance to make things well again. It is remarkable how many things we can do if we try hard enough. Always, - everyday, every moment- we must try to make our life better. Not in a big way, not in a powerful way, but in little ways. simple ways that take place every day. Then happiness takes over, and there will be a peaceful world."
"There have been many things in my life that have inspired me to paint. I carry the inspiration of my life onto the canvas and I always have a story to tell. It is a dream - and with painting you can put your dream on canvas and capture it forever."
It is important to remember that you have art within you, and you have the power to make new beginnings. Because with art you cantake away any sadness in your life. If you are lonely, you can make yourself busy. If you have too much stress, then you can relax. And if the wourld is not so friendly then you can paint a happy place. It is in your power to do these things and together we can make a better tomorrow. So fire-in and be the artist you have always wanted to be.
Bill Alexander, 1990
What made Bill Alexander so happy
Bill Alexander said, "It was 1915, in the middle of the First World War, and there was too much fighting and suffering for anyone to pay much attention to my birth. The Russian armies were coming to our village on the Memel River in East Prussia and the people had to leave. My grandpa packed the old wagon with hay and straw, then the animals, and then my mother and my older brother. Mother was pregnant with me. They packed up everything and threw a tarp over the wagon—my mother told me later it was raining—and left their home for Berlin. I can see it with my mind, the horses and wagons and tarp thrown over everything. Such a long trip==it’s hundreds of miles from our home to Berlin. That’s where I was born, in Berlin, even though I never got to know the big city. When I was two years old, the war front moved again, and we all went back home to what was left of our house and village.
Later, I learned that the battle that was fought in our region was one of the biggest and bloodiest of this century. We had nothing. After the First World War, there was nothing. Nothing but dead cows and machine guns bared and lying around and skeletons of soldiers half-buried with the boots sticking out of the ground. There were flies all over and the whole country was stinking. We kids used to play in all of that."
Bill said his early years helped him realize in painting, just like in life, you must have the dark to see the light, life has shadows as well as sunshine. We can use the shadows (or dark times) to help us see the light (or the goodness) in the world. Bill loved people. He believed in the goodness of people He never met a stranger and felt genuine love for all. Bill was a humble man who always gave credit where credit was due, to his creator.