Hello. My name is Gregory Marc Jackson. I am a watercolor artist with a BFA in Illustrations from Ringling School of Art & Design. I graduated in May 2001. Although the two years before I graduated were slow (jobs) and decreased as time went on, I carried on into the style that captures the continuing and ever changing flow of life and struggle.
My Artist Statement reads: See not with the eye that stills but with the eye that moves. I am a mover, an innovator of my own direction. I don’t wait for the coming moments to be right, for as long as I’ve seen the sky change from day to night, it is never calm, its never quiet. In my continuing development as an artist, I have pursued my desire to capture an expressionistic feel and rhythm, which my eyes can't help but see.
From my humble beginnings, I have pursued a goal in life that has kept me on a continuous path of exploration and development.
My two years at Father Lopez, I saw many changes in the atmosphere. Life at school and a life as an artist were worlds that never met and when they did meet with confusion and wonder. As time grew, so did my own ideals and insight to the changes and the way I saw things. The challenge was what level of change was needed to understand what works. I saw to much change and so many similarities in its structure, that change was needed but not on the level of being different, but in how it works.
In art I started out with acrylics, once I understood the control of dry media I moved to wet, oils. Whether I painted in oil or acrylics the ability to push the movement of change in the paintings was there, but not completely. I felt the work I had done was alive with the feelings, but not to the full creation of what was burning inside. Art is an interpretation of one’s life experiences and feelings…I was on the surface, but my sketches didn’t match my paintings.
My line work, was the one constant connection from the artist I’ve studied under mentioned, “I have a unique style of line work”. Channeling my expressionist style of line into painting was the key, with acrylic & oil I wasn’t fully able to unlock. In my search to find a better way to pull the full emotions of the world around me out, I looked into watercolor. Not fully understanding the use of the medium, but understanding one key golden rule that was taught to me, “its all about the surface of paper the watercolor is applied to”. By this time I’ve transferred to Atlantic High School, for the Portfolio Art Program, to finish my last two years of High School.
From meeting new friends and changing direction in art, I learned first hand that my direction was not only changing, but I was growing with it.
From my first take on watercolor, I started out on heavy watercolor paper and did a quick splatter painting of an autumn scene as part of the one-day class. The movement and the control of the colors drew the lore of watercolor even more to me as the answer to truly visualize the way I see the world. Trial and error with an actual watercolor class, I learned I needed to find the right surface texture to create the feel I saw. Through a combination chance encounter with Gouache Comic Artist Alex Ross, and my acceptance into Ringling School of Art & Design. The connection between the 3 mediums would come together under Ringling Media Teacher, Don Brandes.
It would be through those combined moments that I began to capture the fluidity of my line with watercolor (Gouache).
See not with the eye that stills but with the eye that moves. Throughout time objects move, but are stilled in photos and notes, but in memories they are always constant. As I grew, the world around me changed and I changed with it. As the light from the sky touches a piece of land, continual changing its form and depth I looked for a way to capture this passing moment rather than capture it stilled. The culture of my world is always moving, from one idea to the next, place, person or land. I’ve come to love these changes and see the many moments they hold. I see a world of continuous moving parts and my art as a way to connect to these parts.
The culture of my world is bathed in scenic beauty, and my style reflects upon its ever-changing ways.
