Bill Teeple graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1968. He was nationally known in the 70’s and 80’s for the celestial fantasy paintings he did in collaboration with Lyn Durham. In the late 80’s and early 90’s he left the conventional art world, participating in numerous projects aimed at the integration of art and life. His major vehicle of expression in this period was gardening, although he continued to work in watercolor and graphite. In 1998, he founded Bill Teeple Studio, his well-known one-man art school in Fairfield, Iowa. Also in 1998, Bill began showing exquisite, small pencil drawings that he had been doing throughout the 80’s and 90’s. They are known as the "Tiny Drawings," some no larger than a postage stamp. Although tiny, this unique body of work conveys a sense of monumentality. "When I was young, I was naturally drawn to realistic oil painting. I particularly enjoyed landscape painting. When I went to the university, I was exposed to the vast world of modern art created in the first half of the 20th century, and found myself in the middle of the complex post-modern art world. I embraced, absorbed and integrated what I had been exposed to. I also went deeply into the entirety of global art history going back as far as we can go. This experience has led to the art teacher and curator that I am today. As an artist at this stage of my life I’m feeling a sense of freedom. I feel free to just enjoy the craft of painting. What I have found is that I want to do realistic landscape paintings in oil. I’ve come full circle – back to where I started, but loaded with six decades of knowledge and experience." In 2001, Bill opened Gallery 51 East in Fairfield to showcase the best of southeast Iowa’s artists. Bill Teeple Studio and Gallery 51 East became the center of the rapidly growing Fairfield art scene. The popularity of G51E openings led to multiple venue openings on the same day which evolved into First Friday Art Walks in Fairfield. In 2003 he founded and became Director of Iowa Contemporary Art (ICON), a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to expanding the experience of contemporary art in the region. In 2007 ICON Gallery moved to a remodeled space on the Fairfield Square showing some of the top artists in the state. Marcia Hansen and Bill Teeple featured art by Fairfield artists at Teeple Hansen Gallery from 2006 to 2012. In recent years he began doing small oil landscape paintings. It’s a balancing act for Bill - teaching, curating and making art, but he has produced over 100 small paintings since 2020.