Art has always been a part of Gregory Sievers’ life. At a very young age, he naturally took to drawing and his appetite for creativity only continued to cultivate as he grew up. But it wasn’t until after a stint in the US Navy that he found his way to painting. From there, a deep fascination with color developed and he hasn’t stopped painting since.
Gregory describes his style as romantic, capturing the grace and elegance of a scene, whether that be a Parisian street scene, a clear mountain stream and even graffiti art found in urban settings. He believes romanticism lives in nearly everything if we only take the time to look.
To hear Gregory talk about his chosen profession, there’s a sense of romanticism that seems to emanate from him. It’s clear this work comes from a deep-seated passion and his soul.
Read on for more of Gregory’s process and story.
When did you know art was your calling?
It’s kind of always been in me. I was drawing at a very young age. I had a great teacher in high school who taught a lot of academics and gave me a good figurative background in high school. I really didn’t start painting until after I got out of the US Navy and went to art school, that’s where I really got into painting and just fell in love with color.
What do you love most about creating art?
When it’s flowing and it’s working right and I’m not frustrating myself to death, then I’m in my own world. A day can go by and I don’t even know where it went. I just love the world of creativity.
What challenges you the most about your work?
I think it’s important to challenge yourself. I can show you an artist who thinks they’ve arrived. Their work all looks the same. I try to really expand my boundaries and always challenge myself to come up with something new and exciting in everything I do. Even if I’m using a color scheme that I’ve used before, I try to push it somewhere where I haven’t been.
What inspires your work?
I used to think of myself as a historical painter. I was doing primarily Parisian street scenes. But in my travels, somewhere along the line, I discovered myself and I decided that I’m not a historical painter, I’m a romantic. There are a lot of things that fit that theme. An old, quaint Italian village is just as romantic as a Parisian street scene and so is a very crisp, clear mountain stream. It has its own romanticism. I guess romanticism would be the one word I could say that inspires me.
What do you hope your work inspires in others?
I want them to feel happy. I want them to see what I saw in a place that is just inspiring.
What drew you to the Celebration of Fine Art?
It would be hard to put my finger on one thing. It’s great to be here and associate with other artists. It’s great to have a group of people in charge of the show that understand us. When I was selling exclusively through galleries, the galleries wanted paintings just like the last one they sold because they knew they can sell them. I don’t blame them for that attitude, but it forced me into a very narrow scope of myself. I love getting to do a show like this where I can paint anything I want, put it on the wall and see how people react. I feel much more like an artist doing this than I did when I was selling through galleries.