For Greg Sievers, art has always been a major part of his life. When asked about his earliest artistic endeavors, he often recounts a charming story that foreshadows his future career as an artist.
“I got kicked out of 5th grade for drawing caricatures of the teacher,” Greg laughs. “My mom had to get me back in school. I don’t know how good I was, but good enough to make the teacher mad!”
Still, the story demonstrates that Greg has always been a keen observer of his surroundings. Years later, putting his mischievous youth aside, Greg attended Brigham Young University and Utah State University, and made a name for himself painting historical themes.
“I started out painting historical themes thinking I was a historical artist,” Greg says. “And somewhere along the road I discovered I was painting those historical themes because I liked the romanticism behind them.”
While Greg still paints Paris historically, his focus has expanded to include European landscapes, street scenes, seascapes, wildflowers en plein air and still life, among other subject matters.
“Europe has a lot of old quaint places,” Greg says. “It took them almost as long to build the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris as America is old. At every corner, there’s just another old place to paint.”
The romanticism that Greg loves and is so apparent in his works is one reason visitors of the Celebration of Fine Art have returned to his studio for 25 years. And to think, he never intended to join the show in the first place! Back in the early 1990s, Greg was selling his art exclusively through galleries when an artist friend convinced him to stop by the Celebration of Fine Art and consider applying.
“I came to visit and was absolutely amazed at the quality in this show,” Greg says. “I’ve seen juried shows before, but they still tend to be whatever the judge liked. But this show tries to get the best of every discipline, and I’ve never seen a show that’s this high quality in every discipline.”
The thrill of discovering new artists who’ve mastered their craft is something Greg experiences every year, just as fellow artists revel in his works as they are ever evolving and yet always remain quintessentially Greg. To newcomers, Greg’s advice is simple: Just come!
“I’ll guarantee you’ll be surprised when you get here,” Greg says. “It’s just an amazing show. We have artists from all over the country here, and it’s truly a one-of-a-kind experience.”
See more of his story here: