Ted Willis is an artist who questions the status of contemporary abstract painting alongside the legacy of over one hundred years of modern art history. He has no message or socio/political agenda regarding his work and is only interested in investigating the act of painting itself.

He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in painting with a minor in art history, in 1968 from the College of Art and Architecture at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. For 30 years he taught art, design, and art history to children, adolescents and adults privately and in the Ontario Public School System. He was also gallery director and studio manager for Platform Gallery and Studios in Ottawa for ten years.

Willis maintains a rigorous and prolific practice from his studio at Studio Space Ottawa including being on the Board of Directors.