About Bill Farr...

I had the opportunity to interview Bill Farr — my Dad — about the highlights and important turning points in his career and I think you will find the story interesting...

In 1931, when a local printer in The Floyds, New Jersey gave an 8-year-old boy some spare newsprint to draw on, I’m sure they had no idea what it would eventually lead to.

That act of depression-era kindness, however, was the starting point that ultimately resulted in a long and productive career in the arts.

In those early days, Bill did a lot of pencil drawings — mostly animals — on the spare newsprint the printer provided. At the ripe age of 10, however, he “graduated” to painting when he bought a small painting kit with money he earned by selling magazines...

Early oil painting by Bill Farr.
Made for his mother.

In those depression days, materials, as well as education in the arts, were hard to come by. An aspiring artist like my Dad had to use whatever materials were available, had to be self taught, and most critically, had to be self-motivating. However as you’ll see, these were not disadvantages, but qualities that would blossom and shape the future.

High School days found my Dad not only continuing his personal work...

High School era painting by Bill Farr

but during that time period, he also had his first “commercial” art experience — painting giant signs for the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City.

This was, by the way, a very large painting job — the billboards were as much as 80 feet long, and had to be painted from scaffolding 70 feet in the air!

Learning Jewelry

After high school, Bill got his first “taste” of working with jewelry. He also got some personal education by a fortunate circumstance — he rode to work every day with the owner of the jewelry business!

While Bill didn’t learn a lot about the “art” of jewelry at this time, he did learn a lot about the craft and still has, and uses, some of the tools he acquired during that time.

A Ring Arbor from the early jewelry days

A chance (?) encounter that
changed everything and shaped a life...

After a few other odd jobs, Bill landed a position at a company called Volupté.

This company made cosmetic and cigarette cases, and part of the manufacturing process used metal stencils to paint the covers of the cases.

Bill’s main job was to cut the stencils, but he also produced some stencil designs, and this caught the eye of his boss, Gene Matrachek.

Mr. Matrachek, pulled Bill aside and said, “You know, you've got a lot of ability and you should go to school to develop it.”

Bill, of course, knew that going to school wasn’t an option and promptly replied, “There’s not a chance in hell I could go to school, I don’t have any money, and my parents don’t have any money.”

But there was a way, and Gene Matrachek knew it. He was a graduate of The Cooper Union — which today, as it was then, is one of the top art and architecture schools in the world — and this particular school is one that money can’t get you into — only talent. The Cooper Union (Manhattan, New York) only takes the best, but if you make the cut, it’s free.

Getting into The Cooper Union required a battery of tests and a rigorous application process, which Bill undertook.

Meanwhile, his days at Volupté were numbered —the entire department got laid off when the space and metal working machinery was converted to making machine gun shells for the now-raging World War 2.

Bill got approved for The Cooper Union, and in September 1942, he started night school, while simultaneously working for Phelps Dodge making wire for the war.

This made for some long days — up around 5am to go to work, then off to school from 6-10pm,then back to New Jersey and home by midnight for a few hours of sleep before doing it again.

But this routine didn’t last long... in December of 1942, my Dad got his calling from the military, and for the next few years, it would be Merry Christmas in the U.S. Army Air Force.

<<< As you can see from this Christmas Card, despite being off to a war, my Dad never lost his sense of art!

Learning Photography

Bill’s artistic abilities weren’t totally lost on the Army Air Force, and they sent him off to photography school at Lowry Field in Colorado.

This, in turn, opened the world of photography as an art form to my Dad.

Special note — Bill Farr is also a very accomplished photographer, and it’s from his teachings that I learned the fundamentals and got the “seeds” for what became my personal style of photography.

War came, war ended. And at war’s end in 1945, Bill Farr returned from “photo recon” duties in Italy, married Barbara Storm, went back to The Copper Union full time, and completed the 3-year program.

Since The Cooper Union didn’t offer a 4-year degree at the time, Bill’s next stop was the School of the Art institute in Chicago.

Silk Screen from college days at the Art Institute (1953)

After a year, he was was awarded a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and started working on a Masters degree... but the time had come to concentrate on generating income!

The Art of Commerce

After a few art-related, but not-exactly-what-he-was-looking-for, jobs, Bill began work in the package design department at Montgomery Ward in downtown Chicago.

The year was 1955, and his career at Wards would take him through the next 30 years and to the top of his field in the world of design.

Ultimately, my Dad became the corporate design director for Montgomery Ward, which at the time, was a major force in retailing. If you’re old enough to remember Wards, you’ve seen work Bill Farr has either done personally, or presided over.

In many ways, commercial art and design is the ultimate human endeavor — it combines problem solving and practical application with emotional and artistic sensibilities. Done right, you have products, stores, packages, support materials, and more, that not only have a practical use, but also touch the human spirit. Most of us may not consciously grasp the importance of design, but we all know good design when we experience it, and know the difference it can make in our lives!

Meanwhile, back in the world of fine art

Throughout his long and celebrated commercial career (Bill Farr and his design team won many awards and they were well known and respected in the world of design), Bill continued to produce fine art.

His main focus during his working career at Wards was sculpture.

This included many free standing pieces, as well as some very innovative “sculptures” that are hung on the wall.

Bill retired from formal work at Wards in 1985, but let me just say that I’ve never seen my Dad (or my Mom, Barb Farr, for that matter) not actively and simultaneously engaged in several interesting and productive projects.

For my Dad, since “retirement,” those projects included designing and building their house in Whispering Pines, NC., which is a work of art on the outside and a museum on the inside.

But the “main event” of the last few years — and what continues to be his work and passion today — is fine art jewelry.

And the results are spectacular as you will see in the galleries.

Within each work, you’ll find the sophistication and maturity that comes with a lifetime of work in the arts. You’ll also find more than a hint of “practical” design, too,... after all, these are quite wearable, and ultimately designed to be a celebration of the person wearing them.

Artistically yours,

Jeff Farr