About William Graf Fine Art Studio

 William Graf is a Fine Art artist and International Instructor of 

Oil, Watercolor & Acrylic painting in landscapes, 

still life, portraiture and drawing. 

On Long Island he teaches at his art studio, The Atelier at Flowerfield, The National Art League and The Art League of Long Island (ALLI) .

 His extensive art career began after completing his drawing and old master painting studies at the Arts Student League in NYC, after which Bill went on to study in Florence, Italy at the Cecil Graves Academy. 

He started his career as a freelance illustrator for book publishers like Harlequin, Thomas Nelson, Bethany House (which earned him the Christy Award for best Christian book cover design & illustration)

 just to name a few.  

Bill kept true to his fine art training by accepting portrait commissions and worked on both private & public mural projects. 

His portraiture has won numerous Awards throughout his career. 

One noteworthy commission was a mural depicting a scene of President Theodore Roosevelt’s children in the White House, which was displayed in the Museum of American History.  

Bill’s talent ranges from portraits to plein air painting, where he travels with his students from the hills of Tuscany, the dramatic coast of Maine and the beautiful countryside of Provence, South of France. 

 His diverse painting skills in watercolor and oil have made him an award-winning artist in the prestigious International Richeson75 Portrait/Figure and The Small Works 2019 Painting Exhibits, where his painting “Orange” won Best in Show.  Recipient of numerous awards from the International Miniature Portrait Show of Montreal, the NYC Students Art League Figure Drawing 1st Prize for figure drawing, Huntington NY Art Council for Best in Show for portraiture and Honorable Mentions, NY Nassau County Art Leagues 

1st Prize for figure painting and 1st prize for still life. 

Recipient of the Frank J. Reilly Scholarship Award. Recently he has received Honorable Mention & Merit Awards in the prestigious Richeson75 International Show for Portraiture. The Best in Show awards for Small Works in the Richeson75 International Exhibit, The Gold medal Award at The National Art League 88th Annual Juried Open Exhibit & a merit award at 89th Annual Juried Open Exhibit and currently has artwork on display at the 2019 Adirondacks National Exhibition of American Award. 

 Sandra worked as a graphic artist for 17 years at various major publications including Long Island’s Newsday where she developed her computer skills as a digital graphic designer, winning several awards 

(FCPNY and AFCP) in her field. 

Her software knowledge expands from Indesign, the industry standard layout program, photoshop, iMovie, premier pro and illustrator. Her art training began at the fine arts program at FIT and SVA School of Visual Arts. 

From there, she pursued a career in advertising in TV commercial production in NYC working for major ad agencies like DDB, KSW&G and HT&S Advertising.

She returned to her design career as a freelancer in her own business, Grafix Design Studio. Sandra continues to design logos and visual marketing materials for clients as well as her family art business, that sponsor painting workshops, art exhibitions, private and group art instruction painting demonstrations, etc.

Sandra left the corporate world and freelancing to pursue her desire to teach art to children and has gained her teaching experience, creating weekly summer art programs for The Smithtown Historical Society and other organizations. 

She presently works as the Lead Staff Art Instructor for a private art school here on Long Island. Sandra’s teaching techniques involve developing the child’s drawing skills starting with the basic elements and principles of design. Her creative projects encourage and challenge a child’s imagination.

Sandra’s teaching philosophy is children of any age given the right tools, instruction and encouragement can express their voice creatively through art.

Sandra is passionate about teaching and helping children invest in their imagination and explore the world of art.