Paul and Beverley Williams

Paul and Beverley Williams have lived in Bethany since January 1977 and shared WILLIAMS DESIGN STUDIO and SECRET GARDEN at 1470 Hwy 7A. Together they design and make award winning leather art pieces, unique metal sculptures, beautiful fountains and garden art. Their SECRET GARDEN, located beside their studio/gallery has 12 different water features, fountains and garden art on display and is open May – October.

Housed in an early Ontario General Store (1912), once the hub of the quaint town, is their studio and gallery, where they showcase their art and that of other local artists. They coordinate the Rolling Hills Studio Tour every Mother’s Day weekend in May, so you can visit local artists and crafts people’s studios around the Bethany area. And they participate in the SPARK PHOTO FESTIVAL every April at their studio.

Paul studied cartography at Seneca College and has always created unique sculptural artwork. They met at Black Creek Pioneer Village in 1969 where Paul worked in the Harness Makers Shop and Beverley was doing spinning and weaving for the summer visitors. Beverley graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1969 and won a Travelling Scholarship from the Ontario Crafts Council and in 1970 she spent five months touring studios in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Scandinavia, The UK, and France.

Paul and Beverley were married at Black Creek Village in 1971 and started Williams Design Studio in 1974 where they first lived in Brooklin and then Whitby, Ont.

Their work has been shown in Europe and across Canada and the U.S.A and is in many public and private collections such as: The Chalmer’s Foundation Collection, Ottawa, Ont.; The Massey Foundation Collection; Ministry of Revenue, Michael Starr Bldg., Oshawa, Ont; Roots Shoes Ltd, Ottawa, Ont; Wickett & Craig International, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. and The Royal Scottish Museum Collection, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1991 – Beverley taught leather sculpture under an ‘artists in schools’ grant at Pikangikum Reserve to students in Grade 5 – 12, at the Eenchokay Birchstick School, north of Red Lake, Ont.

2014 – Paul and Beverley worked in Guyana, South America with 25 local artisans under the CESO-SACO volunteer programs to teach design and technical skills.