Known for landscapes worked in pastels, North Carolina's Greg Barnes is the Featured Artist for the 2013 Art in the Square
2013 Art in the Square's Artist of the Year Greg Barnes is Doing what he Loves
By Catherine Adcock, Deputy Editor
For artist Greg Barnes, the decision to pursue his passion,brpainting, full-time involved quite a bit faith. A technical and computer-basedbrillustrator by trade, Greg was between jobs when, he took his wife’s suggestionbr— why not make painting your job. Unsurebrif he would make enough money to provide for his wife and two children, hebrrelied on his faith to get him through. For artist Greg Barnes, the decision to pursue his passion,brpainting, full-time involved quite a bit faith. A technical and computer-basedbrillustrator by trade, Greg was between jobs when, he took his wife's suggestionbr— why not make painting your job. Unsurebrif he would make enough money to provide for his wife and two children, hebrrelied on his faith to get him through.
“We were collecting unemployment, trying to figure out howbrto make a living back then,” says Greg. “It was a leap of faith, really.”
Today, though Greg's striking landscape paintings havebrlanded him accolades and adherents all over the world.
From an early age, Greg displayed talent as an artist. “Inbrmy art classes in elementary school, I was always recognized by the teachersbrand the other students as being the artistic type,” he notes. He pursued art inbrcollege, studying painting at Wake Forest in North Carolina. Post-graduation,brthe stresses of real-world living kept Greg from making his art his career,brinstead taking on a series of jobs that had a creative outlet, but not the kindbrhe needed to fully express himself. “I always enjoyed it but I felt kind ofbrcooped up. I always said that I was an artist in remission,” he explains.
Living in North Carolina with his wife and two kids, Gregbrwas looking for work when the events of 9/11 shook him and his family to thebrcore. The New York-born artist and his wife decided the time was right for himbrto pursue his passion. “She was the one who suggested I become a full-timebrartists and use the talent that she always recognized that I had to make abrliving,” he recalls.
Greg's first found himself drawn to portraiture. At thebrurging of members of his church in Charlotte, he began with a portrait ofbrmusician Loonis McGlohan, a late member of Greg's church. He had recentlybrpassed away, and church congregants including Loonis' widow wanted a specialbrway to remember him by.
“It was a really nice way to start a new career — giving thebrfirst roots of it back to our church,” he says
Greg and his wife worked tirelessly to find buyers forbrGreg’s work. Sometimes it seemed like bills would go unpaid, but to hear Gregbrtell it, God always came through. “It really increased my faith really, becausebrwe’ve come through so many situations where we it didn’t look like we weren’tbrgoing to make it through the month…and money would come through out of nowhere.brIt’s just too much to be a coincidence. I definitely feel like I was called tobrdo this as a profession and that I’m being supported by what I call God.”Greg and his wife worked tirelessly to find buyers forbrGreg's work. Sometimes it seemed like bills would go unpaid, but to hear Gregbrtell it, God always came through. “It really increased my faith really, becausebrwe've come through so many situations where we it didn't look like we weren'tbrgoing to make it through the month…and money would come through out of nowhere.brIt's just too much to be a coincidence. I definitely feel like I was called tobrdo this as a profession and that I'm being supported by what I call God.”
Greg soon transitioned from portraits to the landscape workbrhe has become known for, being drawn to the medium of pastel, a medium hebrmostly works in today. He enrolled in classes, studying the form from notable landscapebrartists Albert Handell and Scott Christensen. “I was spending money on thesebrworkshops that I didn't even have, but in the first two workshops I took, otherbrstudents ended up buying my work. I wasn't trying to sell it, but they wouldbrask if they could buy it. And it was kind of affirmation to me that I was doingbrthe right thing, doing what I was supposed to be doing.”
Greg pressed on, advancing his techniques — and the uses ofbrcolor, light and movement that draws so many fans to his work. “It has to havebrsome kind of energy in it for me, something that feels like there's a dynamicbrstructure to it,” Greg says about the scenes he's drawn to.
The question of how to make a living became pressing forbrGreg and his family. The budding painter turned to art festivals, where he soldbrhis work out in the open. He began locally in Charlotte, but quickly beganbrtravelling regionally and nationally. Showing his work in Colorado in 2004,brGreg struck upon an unforeseen market of buyers. “I looked at the people I wasbrselling my work to, and it was mostly people from Dallas or Houston — that'sbrwhat led me to go to Texas.”
Greg made plans to show his work in Texas shortly thereafter,brmaking his way to shows like Southlake's Art in the Square sometime in 2006.brThat his work has found such fans in Texas has left Greg with a feeling ofbrkinship with the state. “I really do feel like the people in Southlake respondbrto my work more than anywhere else. I’m not just saying that — I reallybrappreciate that, and I always look forward to coming back.”
This year, the This year, the Southlake Women's Club saw fit to honor Gregbrand his contributions to painting, naming him its artist of the year. TerribrMessing of the Southlake Women’s Club says, “Greg Barnes' pastel scenes arebrfull of color, movement and harmony. He was selected as the 2013 artist of thebryear for his excellence in design, technique and amazing overall effect.”
Greg was beside himself at receiving the award. “Being namedbrartist of the year is probably the biggest award I've received at this point —brthat's a fantastic honor,” he says.
Before he was named Artist of the Year, Greg says hisbrbiggest honor was a recognition given to him by his fellow artists at the AspenbrPlein Air Paint Out this past summer. The Plein Air painting community oftenbrattends such gatherings, where scores of plein air (French for open air) artistsbrspend a week or longer on-location painting, then show the work produced in abrfestival format. At the Aspen Paint Out, notes Greg, “I got the artists'-choicebraward, which means that all of the artists voted on everybody else's work atbrthe show, and I got the most votes.”
As for the future? Well, Greg is just going to keepbrpainting. “I guess I'm most excited about continuing to grow as an artist andbrtravel to new places and meet new people. I'm always excited about that.
“What I believe is that I'll be doing this for the rest ofbrmy life and that I'm never going to retire from being an artist. I just see itbras an endless road on which I'll continue to improve in my craft. That's whatbrkeeps me going.”
Culture Club: Art in the Square
For three days, tents will overtake Southlake Town Square,brall in the name of art. Ranked the 8th best arts festival in thebrcountry, Art in the Square brings renown artists, emerging talent, can't-missbrlive music and entertainment for the whole family to Southlake on April 26 tobr28.
This marks the 14th year the Southlake Women'sbrClub has put on the show, gathering proceeds to benefit a number of areabrcharities. The club has raised a staggering $1.7 million from past events.
During the festival weekend, over 145 artistsbr(selected from the more than 700 who applied) present their work, representingbrall kinds of media, from painting and sculpture to photography and jewelry.brVisitors can take a break from the viewing to snack on tasty concessions whilebrenjoying a live band play from one of two stages. This year's music headliner,brcountry artist Keith Anderson (“I Still Miss You”), takes the stage at 8:30brp.m. on Saturday, April 27. With plenty of kid-friendly activities, you can takebrthe whole family to the event, get cultured and support the community all atbrthe same time. For more information, visit Art in the Square.