We recently connected with Gregory Gove and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Gregory thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I love being an artist, and I’ve actually never wanted to have a “regular job”, yet I sometimes envy those that have a set schedule, and clearly defined tasks to complete. Being a self employed artist can be challenging in terms of the discipline required in order to stay on task and keep focus, especially for someone like myself, who’s always struggled with ADD. I’m easily distracted, and my mind can wander if I don’t really lock in on my work, no matter how enjoyable it is.

When I was growing up I struggled in school, as I found it extremely difficult to focus on subjects that didn’t interest me. My mind wandered and drifted. ADD, or ADHD wasn’t a thing when I was a kid, so I suffered with it, not realizing I had a learning disability. Teachers thought I was smart, but lazy, and my parents were on me all the time. It became a real self esteem issue for me. My mom even had my I.Q. tested and found out that mine was higher than my brother who was the academic star of the family. I did well in art classes, as did both my brothers largely due to watching our father draw and paint (He was an untrained artist himself) We were all fascinated by the process and the sort of “magic” of creating art, so in our spare time we were always drawing and creating.

As I entered high school I began to mildly panic about what my place in the world would be, and what type of career I would pursue. It just sort of came to me one day, like that lightbulb moment where I thought, “Hey, what about a career in visual art?…I’ve always enjoyed that” From that point on, I pursued all the higher level art courses I could, and I began to prepare for scholarship competitions, and my high school’s senior art portfolio exhibition. It became a mission for me. I had no problem hyper-focusing on my development as an artist, staying up very late, and even into the early morning hours working away at my portfolio, which earned me several scholarship offers.
I chose to attend Columbus College of Art & Design on scholarship. I had found my place, and my purpose and never really looked back.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I began my career as a commercial commission artist and muralist in Chicago. I worked with architects, interior designers and art consultants to create paintings, graphics, murals and the occasional logo for any and every type of environment, or business.

I did work for many large corporations and national/international hotel chains hospitals, corporate office lobbies, you name it. I enjoyed the challenge of solving visual problems. and creating work that satisfied any particular client’s needs. I’d sit in meetings with client, architect, designer etc and help create the branding and interior and exterior look of some restaurants for instance. I’d never know what type of project was coming next, in terms of style or subject, but it would always involve a lot of discussions, rounds of sketches, and research in order to get to the heart of what would end up on the walls. I did a few public art projects as well, which was even more complicated as far as the amount of approvals, permissions and overall bureaucracy involved. Executing these types of projects over the years got to be a grind, and I always had the itch, and the desire to simply do work that I wanted to do and build a market and an audience for it, but developing a style was no easy matter, as I was interested, and influenced by so many things…I had analysis paralysis, and many stops and starts along the way, but nothing cohesive ever took hold and gained traction.
In 2008 I was approached by an Ad agency in Denver who’s biggest client was MillerCoors. They were looking for an artist to execute a new marketing program they had created and were ready to launch. So, between 2008 and 2016, along with my best friend from college, I ran a program creating murals at festivals and large public events for Blue Moon Brewing Co. and MillerCoors. I was traveling constantly all throughout the US, and I loved it. Collectively we executed over 150 events during that span of time. When the program ended, I found myself at a crossroads. I had stepped away from my previous path, and allowed my regular business to sort of die on the vine while I focused on the traveling and the event life. With that, and after having also moved around quite a bit, I wasn’t sure anymore what or where my place was, professionally, or geographically for that matter, and I didn’t feel that the career road I’d been traveling had much left to offer me.

Then, after having a son while living on the Oregon Coast, and moving to Austin Texas, I knew I was going to have to retool, and rebrand in order to have another chapter as a visual artist.

After Covid, and a subsequent breakup, which turned my world completely upside down, I was heartbroken, and lost. Somehow I heard a little voice nudging me to recreate myself and start creating work what I wanted to create, and give it the serious commitment that it deserved. I went into the studio (a 2 car garage) and I got to work. What began to emerge were what I believe were sort of cathartic meditations on canvas, with the purpose of helping me process my broken heart and re-order my chaotic mind. At the same time, I suppose I was attempting to carve out a new career path with no clear roadmap, or way forward. All I knew was that I couldn’t stay idle. I had to get to work, and so I did.

I draw inspiration from many sources, among them, typography, graphic design, industrial design, the human form, fashion, landscape, religious iconography and architecture…basically anything and everything visual goes into my toolbox, and then I attempt to distill forms down to their most elemental and elegant, without any particular nod to narrative. I tend to think that loading your work with clear symbols or anything clearly recognizabe whether representational, or symbolically is an attempt to directly communicate or direct a viewer’s experience, which I have nothing against. I have and will use representational elements again, but at this point I’m interested in a sort of, visual meditation more than visual communication, if that makes any sense…my goal is to move viewers to experience something mystical, or spiritual without any specifically loaded imagery. I know it’s an impossible thing, to create imagery that is in no way derivative, and people always find things that are relatable to them, or suggestive of recognizable forms, but that’s not my intention with my current body of work. Usually as a painting is reaching a resolution of some sort, a concept will come to me, as if it’s communicating something back to me that has emerged throughout the process, and sometimes a word, or a sentence will appear, which often becomes the title. In some rarer cases I have a rough thought of a title in mind before I begin. Sometimes a shape will appear in my mind, and I’ll know that I need to do something with it, and I often discover the reason along the way.

I usually start paintings without a clear blueprint, or design in mind, beyond a general sense of a feel I’m looking for…then I simply begin, and I let each element I add inform the next and so forth, until they find a satisfactory conclusion of sorts. It’s a spiritual process that I like to say is every bit as important as the end product. So, anyway, once I began to create, I just kept creating. I didn’t know where it would go, but I knew I just had to create, and keep creating and getting it online, and in front of people. I started reaching out to designers and Art Consultants, and things began to click and I began to build an audience. I started getting my work in front of some of the right people and into the right spaces and the next logical step was to connect with galleries. The most gratifying and satisfying moment in my recent journey came when I connected with, and was added to the artist roster at Commerce Gallery, in Lockhart. I’m very proud to be a part of that unique and special community.
At this point I continue to build my body of work, and I’m always looking to create more opportunities to showcase and sell my work. The journey to this point has been an absolute rebirth for my creative soul and I’m grateful every day for choosing to take this path.
As far as what makes me somewhat unique is my prior career as a commercial commission artist, and my ability to be open and flexible when it comes to business relationships with consultants, galleries and collectors.

I try to always look for the best in people, and I believe that the people in this business that conduct themselves with honesty, openness, curiosity and integrity will gravitate to one another. My work is a spiritual practice and process that attempts to connect with spiritual realms and alternate planes of existence as well as with like minded individuals with common values, goals and intentions for the ultimate purpose of the betterment of society and human existence.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the practice and the process is the reward. The opportunity to connect with, and have an audience for things that come from one’s own soul, experience and talent is an amazing gift. I realize there are a lot of creative people everywhere who for whatever reason find themselves living in doubt and disillusionment about what path to take, or whether or not to take the risk of putting themselves out there in front of people. It can be a scary proposition. This life isn’t for everyone. It’s a lot of hard work with many obstacles and challenges. It comes with more rejection than most people are willing to accept, but, for me personally, there’s nothing like the feeling of breaking through and connecting with my own work, and then realizing that other people are connecting with it as well.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

One thing that has always kind of bothered me is the misconception that many non-creatives have about artists, which is usually that what we do is simply a God given talent, that it comes easy, and that it’s not a serious pursuit…that it’s essentially a form of play in essence. Most any successful artist has likely spent years studying and/or practicing their craft or discipline. My own personal journey included not only serious study and practice in High School, but then attending a private Art & Design college, which was an extremely serious program and very grueling in terms of the work load, and the multi disciplined approach of that curriculum to cultivating well rounded creatives in all areas of art & design. There are many untrained artists out there that just start playing around with materials and it just kind of takes off for them, but those cases are rare, and it still carries with it a lot of self discipline, perseverance and hard work, so I’d love for non-creatives to understand that the career of an artist is usually every bit as serious a pursuit as any other, and with it comes a lot of struggle, sacrifice and determination, along with having a proclivity for it and a natural talent.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.goveart.com
• Instagram: @gregorygove.art