Bill Stone

SQUASHED, Painting, Oil on Canvas

2019

Prolific American painter Bill Stone portrays a world that is bursting with color. He is known for his vivid abstract paintings, each a study of the interplay between color, texture and movement. He views painting as not only a physical and mental exercise but a spiritual one, with each piece functioning as a portal to another space and time.

Stone was born in 1958 and grew up in rural Massachusetts. He studied fine and commercial art at the Vesper George School of Art in Boston and began a graphic design career, initially working at a magazine publisher. He soon became a creative art director at an international advertising agency based in Chicago. The fast-paced nature of this work, which involved creating television commercial storyboards, influenced Stone’s approach to his art. Like in advertising, his goal is to capture and hold people’s attention.

Stone began exhibiting his artwork in 2004, garnering acclaim for his rich use of color and bold paint strokes. His paintings invite the viewer to become lost in their engrossing visual quality and reflect on their emotional response. Stone cites artists like Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet as inspirations. He was particularly struck by van Gogh’s The Starry Night when he saw it at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as a child.

Stone paints by using thick oils on canvas. His process begins with flowing lines that keep the eye moving around the canvas as if in a hypnotic trance. He then layers the painting with a depth of color that encourages the viewer to see something new every time.

Stone’s dynamic paintings are exhibited in hotels, restaurants, wineries, public spaces and private homes worldwide. He currently works out of a studio in Colorado Springs and takes inspiration from its beautiful natural surroundings.

On 1stDibs, find an extensive collection of Bill Stone’s paintings.