Greg Collins

The late Fresco painter Richard Franklin told me “ It does not matter if you paint 2,000 or 2 paintings in your life, but you better paint at least one that takes people’s breath away! “ . I took those words with me and try to paint with a passion that will hopefully transcend to the viewer.

I strive to find a moment in time while depicting the best times that life gives us. I look at myself as not just a painter, but an interpreter of a great moment. When you look at one of my pieces I want you to wish you were there or perhaps the scene takes you back to a similar place in your youth.

Every figure has a point of view

Every figure in my painting brings a different point of view. Each one is caught up in the moment with their own story to tell. The imagination that young people have fascinates me. Many of the figures in my work are dreaming that they are a pirate on the high seas or a cowboy in big gun fight, maybe the pilot flying high above the clouds. Some of my work leaves you with more serious thoughts like the scouts in the cemetery. You wonder if they are hit for the first time with pondering life and death.

The artist's approach

The use of light, shadow and color is a mainstay in all of my work. The way light reflects off my figures and shadow brings depth is something that I look forward to in the process of completing each piece. Using brilliant color in my work is something I’ve always done. I look for subject matter that contains great color. I generally mix an entire palette before a painting session. Before me is my darkest dark to my lightest light. Always standing and never sitting with frequent trips to the back of the studio to study the piece and plot my next move.

Images are subject to copyright

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The Vault Art Space and Gathering Place
111 East Paul
Pauls Valley, OK 73075

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