Deaths of brother and mother inspire artist
Welton Williams pushes himself to try new things. “I think that’s what has helped make me a well-rounded artist.”
“I remember when I was young, my mom would write all of her kids’ names down on paper. She had this beautiful handwriting. She also would draw a flower over and over, the same flower. She drew only with an ink pen. It’s a pretty big deal for an artist if you can draw with an ink pen and not make mistakes, every single time.
“Me being the oldest of six kids, I was able to see all of that. A lot of my sisters and brothers didn’t because we were taken from my mom when we were young. She had her problems with addictions and things. It’s unfortunate because I feel like if she had kept pursuing it, she could have become a really talented artist. If she had pushed the line with her abilities, she could have gone somewhere. But she was afraid to do things that she had never tried before.
“It didn’t dawn on me until I was older that I kind of carried my mom’s artistic trait. And I feel like I’m kind of living through her. Like everything that my mind tells me to be afraid of or to not take on, I take it on. I push myself to try new things. I think that’s what has helped make me a well-rounded artist.
“I wish my mom could be here today to see the man that I’ve become, the artist that I’ve become. She got sick with kidney disease, and she eventually passed when I was 26. I also lost my little brother when he was 13. He was shot numerous times out in California, where we grew up. Those are the things that help drive me, that help inspire me.
“I have a lot of fire in me, man. I have a lot of fire and passion to just keep going, to keep getting better with my art.”
— Welton Williams, 34
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