Art Chowder September | October Issue No. 29 | Page 25

M.J.: Name an artist (or two) you admire.
Greg: There are many artists I admire, both in the present
and from the past. However, there is one name that stands
out. Artist/Designer/Architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh
(1868-1928), a leader of Scotland’s Art Nouveau movement
at the turn of the century. He has had a major influence on
my work. Mackintosh was holistic in his approach to his
work, creating right down to the doorknobs in his buildings
and homes.
The other is Henri Matisse (1869-1954), artist and designer.
He is fearless in his bold use of colors, designs, textures,
compositions, and abstract subject matter. His legacy is still
felt today — from textile design to industrial design and
more…
It is not so much their finished works as it is their inspired
design process of going from nothing to their final work of
art.
M.J.: What do you do to find inspiration?
Greg: I have always asked my students, “Where do ideas
come from?” After long pauses, they finally open up —
memory, imagination, inspiration, reading books, going to
the movies, meeting people, photography, and researching
an idea or concept.
For me, it has always been just being observant of
everything around me: color, shapes, textures, the
environments in nature. Even in my early childhood, I
loved to go through magazines, visit the museums and just
be so aware of color, shapes, and display composition in
absolutely everything.
All these things have greatly influenced my work and still do
after 45-plus years of practice. I have become a student of
observation.
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