Jefferson County resident Jerry Williams, 65, describes himself as an “injured soul.”
He said he turned to art to heal from a traumatic childhood accident that resulted in his younger brother’s death.
Williams said he was 12 years old when he was riding in a truck driven by his uncle and his 9-year-old brother, John Carl Williams, jumped onto the truck’s running board to give his older brother a piece of candy. The boy slipped, went under the truck’s wheels and died.
“I have blamed myself my whole life,” said Williams, who lives with his wife, Lea Ann Williams, in a bright multi-colored home tucked away on a wooded hillside north of Hillsboro. “All of my art comes from my brother.”
Williams started as a painter, but for the past 20 years, he has focused on ceramics after taking a class at Jefferson College. After marrying his wife, Lea Ann, 11 years ago, she began managing his art career and making sure his art was shared with more people.
“I try to enter him once a year in (an art) show,” said Lea Ann, 61. “He is a resident artist at Green Door Art Gallery in Webster Groves.”
“She drug me out of the shadows,” Williams said.
Williams’ ceramics range from small pinch pots to serving platters to large vases. He often paints intricate images on the pieces, and each piece has a carving on the bottom.
Jerry and Lea Ann Williams of the Hillsboro area with one of the ceramic serving trays Jerry has created. The two are both resident artists at the Green Door Art Gallery in Webster Groves.
The pieces are signed “J.C. Williams” in honor of his brother, Williams said.
“It is like you are getting three for one,” said Mary Martin, who owns Green Door Art Gallery, 21 N. Gore Ave., in Webster Groves. “There is the shape of the pottery and the skill in creating those shapes. Plus, there is the artistry of the imagery he puts on it with the glazes and what he carves in the bottom.
“They are very popular. We sell a lot of his work.”
Artist’s journey
Williams said he was 40 when he painted his first picture, titled “The 18th Day of August in February.”
“My trauma was on the painting,” he said. “(John Carl) was killed on Aug. 18, and he was born in February.”
Williams said he uses a technique he calls natural flow manipulation when he paints.
As part of that technique, he waters down a canvas, throws acrylic paint mixed with water at it and uses either an air compressor or a can of compressed air to move the paint.
“If you keep doing it, it is basically art therapy and sooner or later you will put your trauma on it,” he said. “If something means something to you, then you can use a blow dryer to dry it and acrylic paint will set. When you see that image that brings something out of you, then you can pick up a brush to define it.”
Jerry Williams donated this ceramic creation to Leader Publications, and it was awarded as a door prize during the Leader’s first Celebrating Women event on March 8 at the Oak Valley Golf Course and Resort in Pevely.
Williams started taking classes at Jefferson College in Hillsboro in 2002 after being inspired by his time in the library at St. Louis Community College-Meramec in St. Louis County.
He said he would spend the day in the library after driving the youngest of his three children to the school.
“I started filling my head with things I had never done,” he said. “I had never read books. When I got out of high school, I probably had a third-grade reading (level). I started reading all kinds of books, and I realized I like learning.”
Coming into his own at Jefferson College
Williams said at one point he wanted to become an art therapist, and with that goal in mind, he enrolled in history, English composition and algebra classes, among others, during his first two semesters.
Williams said he was unable to complete the Algebra class but enjoyed a ceramics class he had signed up for. Together those two experiences changed his career plans and the direction of his art, and it wasn’t long until he became a fixture in the college’s ceramics studio.
Williams said he helps load and unload the kilns, makes glaze for students to use on their creations and offers advice to students to help them with their art and to deal with difficult situations.
“I started listening and talking with students, and one of them who was trying to tutor me for Algebra, had a hard story,” Williams said. “She had bad things happen to her. I was able to talk to her. It was then I realized why I was up there. I like the kids. It did her good to have an adult to talk to. I realized I wasn’t going to be an art therapist, but there were plenty of kids who needed to know they were artists.”
Tony Borchardt, an associate professor and art gallery director at Fontbonne University, said he started teaching ceramic classes at Jefferson College in summer 2005 and met Williams there. The two remained friends even after Borchardt left Jefferson College in 2016.
“(Williams) was a huge help,” Borchardt said. “He would help with the day-to-day operations of the ceramics studio, and he was an inspiration to have in the classroom. Students would see his work and ask him questions. He would offer advice, technical help and inspirational help. He was someone who the students became comfortable with.”
Rebirth
Both Jerry and Lea Ann Williams had recent medical procedures that they say changed their lives.
Williams said he had quadruple bypass heart surgery in August 2021 and nearly died before the procedure. He said the experience has refocused his energy to promote peace through his art.
“Since my operation, I felt like my ghost got let out,” he said. “Since that day, everything has changed. It is hard to explain.”
Lea Ann said she underwent neck surgery in November and after that began creating her own art.
She makes air plant holders and wall pockets for dry flowers. She, too, has become a resident artist at Green Door Art Studio.
“You can’t be at the Green Door Art Gallery and not be inspired,” she said.
Martin said Jerry and Lea Ann make a great team.
“If it weren’t for Lea, he wouldn’t be in a gallery and putting his work into shows. He was just doing it for him,” she said. “And, he has really encouraged her to explore her creativity and get her work out in the world. They are a wonderful couple in many ways.
“In terms of what they offer, it is beautiful work, and it is like nothing you will see any place else.”