Jill Yakas first saw and fell in love with William Pownall's work in the house of a friend in 1984. It wasn't, however, until 1995 when Pownall participated in the exhibition British Artists in Greece, where a number of his works were purchased for the collection of a prominent Greek bank, that the artist and gallery worked together. In 1998 he participated in another group show - A British Gallery in Greece. Both shows were presented by Jill Yakas as part of Britain in Greece and Britain and Greece respectively, two prestigious Festivals under the auspices of the British Embassy and The British Council, Athens.

Fragments of Greece - Pownall's one-man show at the Jill Yakas Gallery brought together a wide array of his serene and peace-loving art. As the artist put it: Peace and calm and being still is what we need most in the world today. The show opened by the Ambassador, Sir David Madden, was in November 2001

WILLIAM POWNALL was born in England but spent thirteen formative years in Australia. He studied at the National Art School in Sydney. He also studied music and became a professional jazz musician. In 1963 he visited Greece for the first time.

The vision of a new life in Greece made him decide to become a full-time painter. An exhibition in Athens in 1978 led to a meeting with Odysseus Elytis, the Greek poet and Nobel prize winner. Elytis started to collect Pownall's work, and also commissioned him to produce the cover and frontispiece for a book of his poetry.

Pownall 'primarily an abstract painter', as he thinks of himself, has made a more or less permanent home in Greece, where he paints and shares his life with the poet, Francesca Meks Taylor. Pownall has exhibited widely, mainly in England, Germany and Greece.