Bill Mead studied at the Atlanta College of Art and at Maryland Institute College of Art. He has been based on Lady's Island, South Carolina since 1985 when he built his home there. Mead works from his home and his art is widely collected. His art reflects his extraordinary appreciation for the natural beauty and charm of the low country. Mead never found reality all that interesting. He says that imagination is what makes life worth living. His perception and reality is never the same thing. His brain is always trying to figure out what isn’t real and what’s real. He produces paintings that are basically still life and landscape combined. He does this in an attempt to merge the sensual with the spiritual. This style is what makes his art to be so peculiar.
His art has been exhibited in several galleries including, among others, Windham Fine Arts, Windham, Woodstock Artist Association and Museum, Woodstock, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, and Albert Merola Gallery, Provincetown. When he turned 50, Mead realized half the things that used to worry him didn't really matter and the other half didn’t even exist. Today, his art gives him a chance to contrast reality and perception. He believes that making art is a means of escape from tedious labor. What drives him is his desire to produce art that inspires - art that his clients can relate to. Today, he’s considered to be one of the world’s best artists but he still continues to learn.
