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His art focuses mainly on South East Asian and Micronesian themes. His love for this part of the world allowed Greg to draw on a wealth of cultural experiences and imagery to inspire many of his paintings. His work has reached markets world wide-USA, Canada, Japan, Russia, Korea, South America, Australia and China to name a few. The Early Years Greg was born in Ventura, California and raised in the high desert about 70 miles from Los Angeles. As a youth, he was constantly drawing and taking advantage of family reunions that most kids find monotonous. "I would spend hours trying to do portraits of my family and relatives," he says. "Portrait work is so difficult and by far the most challenging kind of subject matter to tackle. I've recently found some of these drawings hidden in my parents closet back home in California and honestly they are quite bad." Regardless, Greg found that drawing the human face was great for honing his skills at drawing what you observe. "Even if you are off only slightly it will be very apparent," he insists. In addition to the struggles of learning how to draw, at age seven he was diagnosed as being color blind. Color blindness is a deficiency in discerning colors in the red and green parts of the spectrum which affects about 8% of the male population. Later on in high school Greg took his first art classes. He realized, at this point, there were a number of students that did superior work and that he still had a lot to learn. "For some reason I just couldn't buy into the myth that a good artist has to be born with those skills," he explains. "'It's only later that it was confirmed to me, by a number of successful artists, that this myth is so prevalent in society that is taken as fact. I accepted what everyone around me was telling me-that you can't make a living as an artist, you need to get a 'real job'". At this time success, to Greg, meant wearing a suit and tie, having a nice office, and making good money. Thus, art was just a hobby to be enjoyed in his spare time. Inspirations After completing a two year degree at a community college, Greg transferred to California Polytechnic State University and enrolled in Graphic Communications in 1990. "Because of my color blindness I assumed I could not be a full-time artist or illustrator. I just wanted to be involved in the visual communications business, and associated with the arts in some way," he explains. He graduated with a major in printing technology and a minor in two-dimensional art. While studying, Greg had a life-changing turn of events. A friend had mentioned to him that a resort, Pacific Islands Club, was interviewing for clubmate positions on Saipan. Greg decided to stop by and see what it was all about. It just so happened that they needed tennis instructors as soon as possible. Greg, a life long player, fit the bill and in two weeks was whisked away for a six-month stint on Saipan. "That experience really whetted my appetite for traveling and it ended up being a bug I couldn't shake," Greg explains. A year later, while still in university, he was contacted again by PIC in Phuket, Thailand. They needed an instructor and Greg once again left-this time for a year. Interestingly, his brother Jeffro also became a clubmate on Saipan in 1991. Refreshed by these experiences Greg finally finished up his last year of college back in San Luis Obispo while his brother decided to stay with PIC and has since become a long-term Saipan resident. Another turn of events that led Greg on the path to watercolors was his first class in watercolors at Cal Poly. He enrolled with Robert Reynolds, a premier American watercolorist who's works are widely collected and who has been published numerous times over the years in magazines and books. "I was just blown away by what Mr. Reynolds could do with watercolors!", Greg asserts. "His bold use of the medium, his sense of design, and his ability to capture light was unbelievable and rare. I was instantly hooked on watercolors and have not stopped painting them to this day." |