North Bay Woman

suffering from it. That's why I am hell bent on raising awareness. What I've come to learn has determined the path I am on now," she says, talking about the last two years as an elected board member and spokesperson for the American Brain Foundation. I met with Schneider Williams and her close friend, Trish Jacob, in the light-filled ranch home she shared with Robin Williams. Right on the bay and with a huge deck, the interior feels like a plush houseboat of epic proportions The décor is a love poem to the couple's seven-year relationship. Photos on their wedding day in 2011 and in various outings with and without their combined family of five children, fill the living and dining areas. The walls are also rich with subtle color thanks to Schneider Williams' ever-growing body of landscape paintings. With laughter and a sense of amazement at her professional evolution, she several times mentions her lack of "credentials as a trained fine artist," though she's proud of the fact that she earned a bachelor's in fine arts as a graphic artist and had a successful decades-long career in that field. But her energy now, she says, is also very specific. "I am focused on painting and the brain. And how those two can interact. I always felt, if I am lucky enough to get to paint with no credentials, how can I use my painting to help others? When I have shows now and I have some control over where some of the proceeds go, I funnel them toward Lewy body disease research in Robin's name." Schneider Williams is a tall, statuesque woman with a long river of night-dark hair, an elegantly boned face and penetrating dark eyes that seem to see right into the essence of the person she's talking to. If you're in conversation with her, it's impossible to look away. She meets me at the door in a I'm focused on painting and the brain. And how those two can interact. " Above: Susan Schneider Williams completes a painting in her Tiburon home studio. She commonly funnels proceeds from their sales to Lewy body disease research. Left: Schneider Williams and friend Trish Jacob in Susan's Tiburon home backyard with a view of the bay. – Photos by Stuart Lirette

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