"What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" (author unknown)
Why do you call the shop/studio Willi Nilli?
To most, the phrase “willy nilly” means “haphazardly.” For this business venture, the name is a play on Susanne’s last name — Williams. More importantly, it’s a nod to her need to chase a dream–doing so was something she had to do, whether she liked it or not. Willi Nilli!
Here’s a great description of the term from Michael Quinion’s World Wide Words website:
“Whether one likes it or not; haphazardly.
“The original sense of this odd word appears at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when people used it to suggest that something must be done no matter whether one is willing or unwilling, whether one wants to or not. It’s a modified form of an older phrase that is variously expressed as will I, nill I or will ye, nill ye, or sometimes as nilling willing.
“Will here is used in its sense of wanting to do something, to wish or desire that something should happen (when you make your will, you are using the same sense: you are expressing your wishes for the distribution of your goods after you die). Nill is very old, known before the Norman Conquest, but has long since vanished from the language. It was the opposite of will, so to nill is to want not to do something, to refuse or reject some course of action.
“So will I, nill I can be expanded into “be I willing, be I unwilling”, combining the two sentiments with the implication that it doesn’t much matter what you feel. More recently, this conflict gave rise to an implication that a person was not sure whether to do something, and so suggested he was undecided or indecisive. Even more recently, the associated sense has grown up of embarking on some project without direction or planning or in a disorganised way.
“There is an equivalent Latin phrase nolens volens, formed from two Latin participles that mean “unwilling, willing”. It is sometimes said that willy-nilly is actually a translation of the Latin phrase. It may have been an influence, but it’s hard to tell.” (see http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-wil2.htm)
And, just who is Susanne?
Susanne Williams officially opened her studio and showroom, Willi Nilli, on Friday, October 7, 2005, in Fargo, North Dakota.
She’s been an artist ever since she could hold a crayon! In addition to textiles, her favorite mediums are acrylic, watercolor, and ink. She is also a self-taught calligrapher and letterpress printer.
Her work has been published or exhibited in a variety of places over the years. As a wee undergrad at the University of Nebraska, she was a cartoonist/illustrator for the Daily Nebraskan newspaper and an intern for the Bob Kerry for US Senate Campaign Lincoln Headquarters where she designed campaign event literature and invitations. She’s designed for the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Animal Industry and Department of Communication at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Susanne spent 12 years in academia teaching and serving in university administration. At Minnesota State University Moorhead, she was tenured and promoted to associate professor of mass communication in August 2002, and was the assistant to the president for university communication December 1999-June 2008. June 30, 2008 was her last day at the university; she gave up tenure and her academic career to pursue her dream of being a full-time artist. Susanne and her husband Tim have one son, Oliver, three cats, and 20 goldfish.
Education:
BA in Speech Communication, 1991, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
MA in Communication, 1993, Wayne State University, Detroit.
PhD in Communication, 1996, Wayne State University, Detroit.