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Wendy Ide Williams, an artist, has won grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, and the Corporation of Yaddo. Her work has been shown in solo exhibitions in the Albany, NY, area and in group exhibitions nationwide. She twice attended nursing school but was unable to complete her training because of health problems. She lives in Ravena, NY.
About Achieving Sleep, Williams says, "I'm mainly an abstract painter and a potter; I only make narrative paintings when I really need to tell my story. The last time I was in nursing school I became an insomniac. Although I was doing well academically, I didn't have the energy for clinical rounds, and I couldn't stop worrying about this. Painting was my way of trying to exorcize the physical and mental difficulties stemming from my illness. I felt my private war had to be kept invisible; this painting represented the truth."