Theresa Williams, a contemporary landscape artist, resides in Carstairs, Alberta, within Treaty 7 Territory. Born in Calgary during the early 1960s and brought up on her family’s large multi-generational cattle ranch in Canoe Creek (Stswecem’c), British Columbia, Theresa has been fascinated by landscapes and local history from an early age. The lack of employment and educational opportunities compelled her to leave her small community years ago and motivated Theresa to make the best of her situation wherever she ended up. Relocating to Alberta with her husband in pursuit of job prospects in the oil fields, Theresa was immediately struck by the vast prairies and majestic mountains and chose to respond with paint. Soon after, she achieved gallery representation and her unique landscape paintings are popular.
Theresa is renowned for her plein air painting, innovative steering wheel easel, limited color palette, and bold and expressive mark-making. Decades spent driving across rural Alberta and British Columbia have influenced her art and the view through the windshield is frequently featured. Now retired from Canada Post, Theresa paints full-time. The recent amendments to Canada's Indian Act, which addressed most gender biases, have allowed Theresa to be officially registered and, following formal community acceptance, become a member of the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation, (aka Canoe Creek First Nation). Her reconnection with ’Home’ and culture includes an honest assessment of her complicated ancestry and generational settler privilege: undercurrents of personal discovery inform her work and echo in the beautiful loneliness she loves to paint.
Educated at home for most of her early and secondary schooling, Theresa pursued higher education in Vancouver, British Columbia, completing the Foundation Year at Emily Carr College of Art and later graduating from the University of British Columbia.
Theresa’s artwork hangs in private collections both nationally and internationally, as well as permanent public collections in British Columbia and Alberta and has been published in newspapers and magazines and featured in a book of local Alberta history. Theresa’s paintings have shown in many juried group exhibitions as well as solo shows and have won multiple awards. She is represented by Bluerock Gallery in Diamond Valley, Leighton Art Centre near Calgary, and seasonally at Gust Gallery in Waterton.
