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Lee Sheridan, Art Critic,
Springfield Daily News
"Blizard's painting "Looking South II" is most
impressive. He has burst the confines of the "ever present
thing" in an intensity of freedom and has created a really substantial
and expressive statement.
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"Bustin' Out"
Photopainting
Blues Artist: Sharrie Williams
Size: 42" x 30"
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Tom Hart, Art Critic,
Springfield Republican Newspaper
"William Blizard shows a
pair of fine graphics, both round portholes or bulls eyes in large rectangular
mats. "In the Beginning...In the End" is an aquatint/etching of fiery chaos,
while "Landscape of the Mind" looks like a tornado over a corn-brown field."
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Gloria
Russell, Critic, Springfield Daily News
"Throughout his career, and no matter his inspiration, his method or his materials, Blizard
has translated his visual environment into abstract language. But in the
past decade, turning his gaze inward, away from the outside world, he has
reconsidered Abstract Expressionism, that 1950's movement in which the very
action of creating the painting became the subject, when the artist's
personality and emotional state took visible form in forceful marks on the
canvas.
Working at a safe remove from the dominance it held over
mid-century art , and with the proficiency of a
seasoned veteran, Blizard has discovered his own path. For him, the
canvas is not an arena for psychological revelation; it is a field of
adventure inviting meditative concentration.
Intense focus, along with years of practice, governs Blizard spontaneous gesture. Contemplation, in
addition to training and experience, allows for his luscious palette,
calligraphic strokes, filtered light, and shallow space."
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Arthur T. Andrews, Art
Critic, Springfield Daily News
"The one man show opened last night with a soaring
salute to the artist William Blizard.
This show has been long awaited by critics and friends
alike.
Containing more than two dozen oils, acrylics,
lithographs and etchings. The exhibit demonstrates a fantastic personal
development. The works are filled with a sparkle and happiness; the
explosive qualities found in these works contrast with the more confined and
introverted earlier pieces.
"Orange Expansion" and "Moon Voyage"
show bright splashes of color and boldness of application that shift his
level of delivery from an intellectual base to a more emotional one.
Blizard's exhibit shows the artist to be a man in
transition...one can only imagine the width and breadth of what is to
come."
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Daniel Weck,
Art Critic, Springfield Republican
"Picasso had his "Guernica" and Goya had his "Sad Ones", but to
William Blizard, a romantic humanist, everything is "Lucy in the Sky
with Diamonds". His colorful abstractions on exhibit go beyond
"Candide" who believed that this was the
best possible of worlds.
Blizard takes in the entire universe and indeed his
painting "Moon Voyage" gives that drab and barren planet all the
excitement of a Rajah's spilled jewel box.
Blizard comes to grips with landscapes. He is
enamored with nature. He paints variations of the theme and were it music John Cage would be the composer.
Art lovers who can do with a healthy portion of optimism are urged to view this fine
exhibition, collectors will have a field day."
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