William McNamara

Since 1976, Bill has lived on a mountaintop bordering the Upper Buffalo Wilderness Area in Northwest Arkansas. His affinity for the wild places surrounding his home is reflected in his intimate landscapes of small pools or studies of lichen and rock, and in his watercolors of the Buffalo River Country. 

Bill’s works have been in major exhibitions such as those held by the Butler Institute of American Art and the National Watercolor Society, and he has had solo exhibits at the Arkansas Arts Center and the Springfield Art Museum, both of which include McNamara paintings in their permanent collections. Visitors to the the Buffalo National River Visitor Center at Tyler Bend can view many of his Buffalo River scenes, which the National Park Service reproduced as murals for the center.

Selections of Bill’s paintings have been available as limited edition prints since 1982.

In an interview with photographer Kerrie Szabo (below), Bill talks about being a painter, his connection to the rural Ozarks, and what speaks to him about where he lives.