Art Chowder September | October Issue No. 29 | Page 21

M.J.: How long have you been in the Pacific Northwest, and how did
you land in Oregon?
Greg: The year was 1957 and I was ten years old at the time. I lived in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with my parents, two brothers, and two sisters. My
father had Advertising Art Studios, a prominent ad agency with accounts
such as Miller High Life Beer, Kleenex Tissue, and Milwaukee Braves
Baseball. Dad, in his early forties, became ill and died in February of that
year.
My mother’s sister lived here in Portland, and they were very close, so
later that summer, because Dad had wanted to start his own ad agency in
Portland, Mother followed through with the plan for a new beginning and
moved us out here. We have lived here ever since. Mom is now 101 years
old, never re-married, and there are four of us kids left.
M.J.: Did you always want to be an artist, or did you have other plans?
Greg: I guess I always wanted to be an artist. Since kindergarten, I liked
to draw and do artworks. Mom said that I memorized people’s wallpaper in
their homes and came home to draw it out. I would leaf through magazines
and was inspired by the design elements on the pages — colors, typestyles,
and layout. I am still inspired by this today.
I think my greatest influence, however, was watching Dad do ad layouts
for his clients. I used to look over his shoulder while he was designing. I
was amazed that he could go from nothing to something. Now, it’s like he’s
looking over my shoulder sometimes.
I was fortunate to have my parents and some teachers who saw a spark of
talent and encouraged me to keep going. My eighth-grade teacher was the
wife of a famous Northwest artist. She suggested I choose a professional art
career. In high school, I gravitated toward the art courses and worked on
hallway banners for the dances.
My military service saw a tour of duty in Germany, where I volunteered
for art projects such as signage to beautify the base entrance and to
decorate my unit’s mess hall. Upon completion of my service commitment,
I continued my college education and training on the GI Bill, studying
advertising graphic design and visual communication education.
I did advertising graphic design for two and a half decades. I was
enthusiastic about my career. I liked working with clients, presenting my
portfolio, and solving their visual problems where every project assignment
is different. But there is a competitive challenge to keep on going and not be
discouraged. And there is a lot of networking to build a good reputation. I
guess I just lost my passion for it.
I tried other career paths for a bit. I even tried to sell health insurance at
one time, but it was not me. So, I just stripped it down to the roots. I knew
I loved the process of going from nothing on paper to something tangible.
I enjoyed designing art to solve the client’s problems or meet the client’s
needs. I loved creating art from deep within me, and I wanted to bring my
spiritual life into my work. That brought me to my current art and design
career, working mainly in the niche of liturgical and spiritual art.
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