by Marie Doyon and Bill Riski  Meet Nancy Fox, affectionately known as “Biddie,” a gifted watercolorist. One of the original members of VAC, Biddie has shared her talents with countless budding artists on Dataw. Through private lessons and occasional classes that she provides for VAC, Biddie imparts her passion for watercolors, basic techniques, and handy hints. A true animal lover, she is also well known for her pet portraits. Biddie is not the only “creative” in the family. While Biddie pursued her art career, her husband, Bill, studied to be an architect. Since the couple’s move to Dataw, he has contributed his knowledge and expertise in many ways to improve the look of our community. Biddie and Bill recently celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary! Painting by Jules A. Dieudonné (1853-1914) Where are you from, and what do you make? I grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, one of four girls and two boys. My parents were very attuned to our individual needs and talents. At age seven, I attended a music and visual arts camp. My high school art teacher was also very encouraging as I pursued my interest in painting. After high school, I attended Montgomery Junior College and West Virginia University (where I met my husband, Bill).  My goal was to become an elementary art teacher. I also attended the Maryland Institute School of Art in Baltimore but was not impressed with that art program. Later, I enrolled at Hartford Community College, where I took a watercolor class. Ultimately, that instructor asked me to sub for her! I also began to give private lessons, which I did for the next ten years until moving to Dataw in 2007.  I primarily paint with watercolors, and my subjects include birds, animals, flowers, and landscape scenes. I am often commissioned to… Read More

by Marie Doyon and Bill Riski Jim Williams, one of the original members of VAC, could easily be considered one of our hidden treasures of Dataw. He is a Case Institute of Technology graduate and was a Navy pilot during the late 60’s. His varied interests, engineering background, and wide variety of talents are fascinating, as is his personal art journey. As you read below, remember that Jim says he “hasn’t found his niche yet.” Where are you from, and what do you make? I grew up in Rocky River, Ohio, west of Cleveland. My wife, Anne, and I shared the same homeroom from seventh grade through senior year-when we started dating. After dating for about eight years, we finally married. I have a long list of interests: Fly fishing inspired me to make not only my own flies but also my own bamboo fly rods. It was many years before I finally produced a bamboo rod. It is quite an involved process that required me to fashion many tools needed to construct a bamboo rod. Woodworking – here again my engineering background helped me to design and build furniture using a variety of woods.  I have made several pieces of my designs, including many coffee tables (even one with multiple compartments to display collections of small items), end tables, a mahogany chest of drawers, a corner dining room hutch made of cherry, and many more pieces. Mahogany Bachelor’s Chest by Jim Williams Photography – My love of photography started at an early age when my father gave me my first camera, a Yashica twin lens reflex. It was about 1966 when I acquired a Nikon. Most recently, I have moved to Sony equipment. I built my dark room and moved from black and white to color photography. It was… Read More