Bill Schwarz, SCA
Born and raised in Saskatchewan until he was seventeen, Bill was a child prodigy winning his first colouring contest at five years of age. However, this early burst of fame was interrupted for fifty years as he pursued his education, earning his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Toronto in 1966. Bill was admitted to the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1968 and moved to Cambridge where he has built a successful and respected law practice with his business partner Bob Pettitt. The law practice continues to thrive with Carly Hills, Mike Pass and Bill.
For all of that, artistic genius was not to be suppressed. His smoldering interest in art was rekindled in 1997 when his wife, Nancy, suggested they take an art course together. Bill’s tenacity took hold and he has since pursued his artistic development with courses and other artists’ workshops throughout the world.
Bill explains the role of art in his life, “Art helps me find the balance to what I was trained to do, what I want to do and what I see around me. As a lawyer, I am trained to look at facts, to study detail to find the core of an issue. Often in my practice, what may appear simple may be infinitely more complex. With my art, I want to do the opposite. The world around me – landscape, architecture, people – is a complexity of planes, texture and subtlety of colour. I want to make this intricacy simple. I feel that my art is a quest to find a balance between the detail I am trained to find and the simplicity I want to achieve.”
Bill’s paintings have been shown on episodes of the 2018-19 CBC television sitcoms Schitt’s Creek and Workin’ Moms.