About MeHolly Mcwilliams - Artist and Bellydancer
For as long as she can remember, Holly has been drawn to expressing herself visually, recreating images and glimpses of the world in her mind, translating them into something seen with her heart and transferring those perceptions into a visual medium. Starting with innocent doodling and renditions of "I'm a little tea pot" as a child, her work has matured into moody, captivating paintings and dance performances. She captures the moment and what it feels like to be in that moment, giving a definite immediacy and tangibility to the work. She wants to provide a visual escape for her viewer where they can be swept up and transported, however briefly, to another place and time.
"I want to close in on that moment of connection where nothing else matters but being in that moment - that 'just breathe' moment. That's why I love to paint people, and speak movement through dance. I'm really into trying to capture the physical essence of what it is to be alive and have that energy go through you...the intensity of living is what really inspires me, in life and in art."
Holly has been bellydancing since the year 2000 when a friend, who is a dancer, came back from California with all these wondrous costumes and unusual music. That friend has sparked an obsession that is still going strong today. She studied with the illustrious Hadia in 2002-04 and was a part of Hadia's dance troupe "Aiwa". Just one of the many performances they did was with the Calgary Philharmonic. In 2005, she developed Indigo Arts where she now teaches bellydance, Art and Pilates.
Her art background started very young. In fact, she cannot remember a time where she was not drawing or painting. At a young age, she was winning contests and awards for her excellence in art. Her formal education was with Alberta College of art and design in where she majored in sculpture and painting. Since leaving the college, she has kept up her education and studied under many other professional artists. She became an instructor herself in 2000 with children's classes and now focuses her efforts in teaching adults and teens as well as furthering her own personal art career.
Holly's mission in life is to inspire people. Whether it's through viewing her artwork, watching her dance or being a part of her classes and workshops. She wants to connect with people and her students and bring out that inner spark of creative life that lives within us all.
