Wiili

William “Wiili” Armstrong

(1956-2003)

Wiili was a poet, writer, naturalist, bird watcher and artist. He was known for the visionary art ( Outsider Art) that he created during his lifetime!

Wiili was a self taught painter and creator of many types of three dimensional art from ironing board collages to fences and everything in between. Wiili’s inspiration for his paintings and collages came from visions of angels or muses that dictated to a certain degree what would go onto his canvases.

The majority of paintings had thick brushstrokes, with vibrant colors and images of the people in his life at the time of creating the painting or collage. Most of the paintings had particular birds, butterflies or angels in them and represent his true feelings at that moment of his life.

After discussing some of Wiili’s childhood and teenage years with his father in 2004, it was determined that Wiili knew roughly 60 species of birds. He claimed to know birds by sight, sound and even their migratory paths throughout the year. Willi at a young age tested at a genus level on the IQ charts and was one of the most colorful artists in the United States, and thanks to the paintings he created will be remembered indefinitely. Many people that are in the art industry have commented that Willi was a modern day Van Gogh.