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Greg found that the diversity of watercolor could be used to capture light and atmosphere in a unique way. The Corporate World After graduating from Cal Poly in 1994, Greg went immediately to work with Merrill Corporation, an international financial printing company, as a project coordinator based in the Los Angeles office. Greg was promoted over the course of eight years to different positions in the division. He worked with corporate clients on multimillion dollar deals, coordinating all aspects of financial document reproduction and electronic filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "I interacted with many different players such as CEO's, CFO's, accountants, Financial Bankers, Merrill typesetters, print and distribution facilities across the nation," says Greg. The skills in marketing, business, multitasking and a background in print reproduction would later serve Greg well in his pursuit of selling art for a living. Regardless of acquiring these skills, the business was high stress and wore on Greg over time. "I was looking around and seeing people in the printing business who had been there for many years and were really burned out from the high demands of the job. They were just counting down the time until retirement so they could finally pursue the things they enjoyed," explains Greg. "I didn't want to be one of those people." All the while, he slowly developed his talents as a watercolor artist largely by reading art books and self-teaching in his spare time. Greg began joining art associations and was introduced to amazing work that a lot of artists were doing. He met a number of professional artists who are actually making a living doing art. This he found exciting and he started expanding his art portfolio. He joined art competitions in Los Angeles where he won several awards that really boosted his confidence. One painting in particular did very well. Titled "Arequipan Light," depicting a Peruvian church in Arequipa, won 2nd place in the Landscape/Seascape category in a competition that had attracted 350 entries. This painting was later acquired by local resident Mili Saiki who is originally from Arequipa. Transitions While flying back from a snow boarding trip in Northern California, Greg was having a long conversation with a women sitting next to him about careers and life choices. She suggested teaching art to kids at a private art school with studios throughout Southern California. Her daughter was taking classes there and was absolutely loving her experience. After eight years at Merrill, Greg was ready for a drastic career move that brought him closer to the fine art field. Greg had an interview with the company and immediately landed a job as an instructor and quit his corporate job forever. "There's no feeling like the last day at a job that has been weighing down on you for a long time, I was thrilled to be working with kids and seeing the excitement in their eyes. It didn't matter that the pay was half of what I made before. I was free and happy, doing what I loved. The school was unbelievable," Greg says. According to Greg, the school
is "the largest private art school in the world, with about
24 studios in Southern California with 3,500 kids moving through
the program and about 1,500 adults. The instruction was top notch,
with a foundation in sketching techniques used by the Masters
in the Renaissance period. I was immersed in good technique which
brought my drawing skills to a new level. I was confident at
this point that I could draw and paint anything I wanted, no
matter how complicated." |