Exhibit opens on works of local artist
September 02, 2012 11:48 AM
Jacksonville artist Stephen Greer will display a collection of his favorite places, people and objects through the month of September.
Greer will be the featured artist at the Council for the Arts with a special exhibit of acrylic paintings and drawings depicting his theme of flowers, faces and places, and will hang in the Bradford Baysden Gallery Sept. 2-28.The opening reception for “Flowers, Faces & Places” will be held Sept. 2 from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
“Flowers, Faces & Places” is Greer’s second solo exhibit for the council, which features 20 pieces of his paintings from the past six years. One of his featured works includes a 16 piece painting of many sights that he sketched while waiting at a terminal at London’s Gadwick Airport in 2007. He also includes various flowers, seashells, and other unique objects.
Greer’s award winning depictions of the coast and people in public places can be found in galleries and exhibits across the Eastern North Carolina. Raised in Kinston, Greer said that he has always embraced art and remembers taking art classes in Jacksonville as a child.
“I can never remember a time when I wasn’t drawing and painting,” Greer said. “My mother and father always encouraged that.”
Over the years, Greer has taken instruction from several professional artists and workshops. He is an active member of the Onslow Art Society and a plein aire artist with the Onslow Outdoor Painters Society. He even includes portrait paintings of himself along with fellow OOPS ar,sts Dean Remington, Bernie Rosage, Jr. and Mitchell Morton in the exhibit. Greer said that he enjoys doing candid sketches of people in public places using them as visual references for creating abstract and realistic work. He always travels with a sketchbook in hand to capture fleeting images, and his use of acrylic allows him to bring out various patterns, colors, rhythms.
“I love acrylic today for all of the reasons I hated them when I first had the experience of using them,” Greer said. “Oil paint stays wet a long time and you can manipulate it but acrylic is not. It dries so fast that you don’t have the leisure to play in it … it is so versatile that you can use it in so many different ways.”
His most popular exhibition to date has been "Still," which features Native Americans in their full regalia. The exhibit is inspired by several trips to powwows in western North Carolina. This exhibit will be displayed at the Arts Council of Wayne County in Goldsboro from Sept. 6 to Oct. 12.
“I knew when I saw that I knew I would do something with my artwork to record that experience,” Greer said. “If you’ve never been to one, it is really something to see.”
Although he is a barber by trade, his role as an artist has given him many diverse opportunities to travel, create new pieces and meet with fellow artists and art fans. He feels that it’s important for everyone to embrace a skill or talent regardless of the amount of money or fame it produces.
“I think that the passion comes in I think the luckiest people in the world are those who do something they like so well that they’re willing to do it for nothing,” Greer said.
For more information about the artwork of Stephen Greer, visit his blog at stephengreer.blogspot.com.
WANT TO GO? The opening reception for “Flowers, Faces & Places” will be held Sept. 2 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. The Council for the Arts is located at 826 New Bridge Street in Jacksonville across from Jacksonville City Hall. The Council will be closed on Sept. 3 for Labor Day. Regular hours are weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or by appointment. For more information, call 910-455-9840.
Greer will be the featured artist at the Council for the Arts with a special exhibit of acrylic paintings and drawings depicting his theme of flowers, faces and places, and will hang in the Bradford Baysden Gallery Sept. 2-28.The opening reception for “Flowers, Faces & Places” will be held Sept. 2 from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
“Flowers, Faces & Places” is Greer’s second solo exhibit for the council, which features 20 pieces of his paintings from the past six years. One of his featured works includes a 16 piece painting of many sights that he sketched while waiting at a terminal at London’s Gadwick Airport in 2007. He also includes various flowers, seashells, and other unique objects.
Greer’s award winning depictions of the coast and people in public places can be found in galleries and exhibits across the Eastern North Carolina. Raised in Kinston, Greer said that he has always embraced art and remembers taking art classes in Jacksonville as a child.
“I can never remember a time when I wasn’t drawing and painting,” Greer said. “My mother and father always encouraged that.”
Over the years, Greer has taken instruction from several professional artists and workshops. He is an active member of the Onslow Art Society and a plein aire artist with the Onslow Outdoor Painters Society. He even includes portrait paintings of himself along with fellow OOPS ar,sts Dean Remington, Bernie Rosage, Jr. and Mitchell Morton in the exhibit. Greer said that he enjoys doing candid sketches of people in public places using them as visual references for creating abstract and realistic work. He always travels with a sketchbook in hand to capture fleeting images, and his use of acrylic allows him to bring out various patterns, colors, rhythms.
“I love acrylic today for all of the reasons I hated them when I first had the experience of using them,” Greer said. “Oil paint stays wet a long time and you can manipulate it but acrylic is not. It dries so fast that you don’t have the leisure to play in it … it is so versatile that you can use it in so many different ways.”
His most popular exhibition to date has been "Still," which features Native Americans in their full regalia. The exhibit is inspired by several trips to powwows in western North Carolina. This exhibit will be displayed at the Arts Council of Wayne County in Goldsboro from Sept. 6 to Oct. 12.
“I knew when I saw that I knew I would do something with my artwork to record that experience,” Greer said. “If you’ve never been to one, it is really something to see.”
Although he is a barber by trade, his role as an artist has given him many diverse opportunities to travel, create new pieces and meet with fellow artists and art fans. He feels that it’s important for everyone to embrace a skill or talent regardless of the amount of money or fame it produces.
“I think that the passion comes in I think the luckiest people in the world are those who do something they like so well that they’re willing to do it for nothing,” Greer said.
For more information about the artwork of Stephen Greer, visit his blog at stephengreer.blogspot.com.
WANT TO GO? The opening reception for “Flowers, Faces & Places” will be held Sept. 2 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. The Council for the Arts is located at 826 New Bridge Street in Jacksonville across from Jacksonville City Hall. The Council will be closed on Sept. 3 for Labor Day. Regular hours are weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or by appointment. For more information, call 910-455-9840.
