St. Martinville City Councilman Dennis Paul Williams’ book of paintings wins national awards,

St. Martinville artist and musician Dennis Paul Williams’ debut book has won two national awards and is a finalist for two others.
“Soul Exchange: The Paintings of Dennis Paul Williams” has been named the overall winner in the Art category of the Eric Hoffer Book Awards; the silver winner in the Photography Art category of the Nautilus Book Awards; a finalist for the First Horizon Award (a recognition bestowed to first-time authors by the Eric Hoffer Award’s committee); and a finalist in the Art category of the Foreword Review’s Book of the Year Award (winners will be announced in June).
Williams grew up in St. Martinville, where Louisiana’s Creole culture introduced him to French and West African aesthetics and values. Driven as a child to draw, paint, and explore artistic materials, Williams embraced his Creole heritage, where every aspect of life revolves around faith, celebration, and beauty.
When he was 10 years old, his father died. Around the same time, Williams was diagnosed with congenital heart failure. He decided then that if God was going to judge him by his work, he must make better use of his short time. He began his career with a self-portrait of himself on his father’s pillowcase.
Williams’ works have since evolved into expressions of his deep spirituality. The objects he creates are imbued with beauty and intrinsic spiritual power and can be found in numerous museums in the U.S. and beyond, as well as in private collections around the world.
Williams has also enjoyed a parallel career as a guitarist for 26 years in his brother’s band, Nathan Williams and the Zydeco Cha Chas.
The relationship between Williams’ art, both music and painting, and his spirituality seem to embrace one word: healing. Whether an individual is overcoming illness, loneliness or despair, Williams’ art offers a prayer and moment of counseling.
“Soul Exchange” presents over one hundred works by the artist. It also includes a portrait of Williams by book editor Philip Gould as well as an overview of his art by former Louisiana Poet Laureate Darrell Bourque.
The book is available for purchase through its publisher, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press, at http://www.ulpress.org/catalog.php?item=143.
More information about each of the awards can be found at www.hofferaward.com; www.nautilusbookawards.com; and www.botya.forewordreviews.com.