HODGE PODGE LODGE

MEET THE ARTIST

William A. S. Kreutz

Over the past several years, William Kreutz has gained international acclaim for his nostalgic oil paintings of America in the 1940s and 1950s. Bill spent most of his boyhood trekking around his family’s 92 acres of Pennsylvania woodland…fishing, hunting and camping and developed a profound love of the natural environment that was part of his everyday life. With a nearly photographic recall for things that interest him, he has turned his memories of those kinder, gentler times into a thoughtfully nostalgic collection of original oil paintings entitled Around The Lake ™. The entire Kreutz household was blessed with artistic genes and Bill was no exception. He was encouraged to draw and paint as far back as he can remember and his natural talents shone through, from his original crayon drawings on the dining room wallpaper to his design and exhibit work which can still be found in numerous prestigious venues, including the National Aeronautic and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institute. His formal art education came from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, The Ivy School of Professional Art and the University of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Although his career path quickly took him far away from the drawing board, Bill never lost his love of art and nature, and in 1996 he left the corporate world for good and painted his very first oil painting…a country scene, complete with sparkling stream, a barefoot kid and a fishing pole. The audience for Bill’s art is universal. It has been published in both limited and open editions on paper and canvas, displayed in art exhibitions and seen in publications as diverse as “Décor Magazine” and “The Midwest Farm and Livestock Directory”. Several images are currently available as high quality jigsaw puzzles. His work is sold nationally in art dealers and galleries from Boston, Massachusetts to Carmel, California and his collectors hail from such far-flung locations as New Zealand, Scotland, England and Finland. When he isn’t in his studio, Bill can be found entertaining audiences at corporate events where his art is presented to employees and valued customers as a token of appreciation from the corporation. And, uncharacteristic of Bill, who really prefers to work alone at odd hours in his home based studio, he was convinced to participate in several art shows this past year including the Bella Via Art Event, the Ramada Express Hotel/Casino Artist Weekend and the Santa Clarita 13th Annual Art Classic where he walked away with the People’s Choice Gold Award for his painting of the imaginary town of Eagle Bay …viewed from a campsite just across the river and reached by a covered bridge. The painting, entitled “Thursday Evening”, will be available as a future reproduction. Bill prides himself on “viewer-friendly” composition…giving his collectors artwork that can be appreciated from across the room and yet continues to delight and surprise the closer they get. The paintings are created strictly from the artist’s imagination…the “Lake”, the “Bay”, the “Town”, even the “Map” on which each scene is located exist only on Bill’s canvases, however, the upbeat messages in his work are as real as your own memories and imagination.