Check out William Tyler’s Artwork

William, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I grew up in Kingston, NY raised by an amazing grandmother who took care of me after the death of my mother and downward spiral of my father .Life before my grandmother was filled with fear as i lived with an alcoholic father and the abuse that came along with it. Starting to live with my grandmother was a blessing and also very hard .It was like a double edged sword as she was loving and caring but also old school and very strict . She ran a day care and growing up i often was alone .I grew up fast and was taking on a lot of responsibility early on in my life .In my late teen i was living on my own ,going to school and working full time . I  ended up falling in love with photography and that’s what sparked my journey with art .Photography became both my love and escape from a lot of things going on in my life .It became a world that didn’t include abuse, violence, homelessness, eating disorders .It was my world .I moved to Toronto at the age of 23 and during my first 2 years i couldn’t work as my papers went through and photography became my everything .It really helped me through my first 8 years in Toronto as they where a bit of a struggle for many reasons .I always loved paintings.I’ve always admired then but really fell into that world when i met the love of my life Amy .My eyes became open to so many things and painting and art of various forms was something that became so natural for us to share with each other.Its became something i felt finally was the greatest chapter in my ability to express myself .I started taking a ridiculous amount of street photography and started really becoming connected with how i was feeling and how others must be feeling and i wanted to be a voice for myself to be heard but also those that just weren’t being heard or are perhaps feeling scared and voiceless.I stumbled across painting my own works just recently .I’ve always wanted too but there has always been a doubt or fear and Amy has always raised my doubts and encouraged me and it was my turn in life to not be scared and be even more of myself.My life changed once i fell in love with her and changed even more once i stopped being afraid . I was on vacation from work and with two weeks with endless amounts of time i jumped into it and i haven’t stopped .They keep getting bigger and bigger .Filled with more voices and more messages.I just want people to look at my work and feel themselves .Feel like they aren’t alone .Feel like they are understood .Feel like they are heard and  aren’t alone. I want to reach people who might not see these feelings or issues and open their eyes , hearts and minds to what is going on around us .In this busy world we often don’t see or choose to stay blind the truth and issues that are going on .Not only in the world but even in our own communities.