TECHNIQUE: From a tranquil northern lake to the scenic hills of southwestern Wisconsin to a rising storm over an Iowa farm, Gregory Steele uses color and detail (or even lack of detail) to create oil paintings with a depth that pulls you into the paintings. They make you feel as though you can walk through the painting to see what is on the other side of the hill or beyond the bend of the road.

IMAGERY: Gregory is a Midwesterner who believes the Midwest offers a rich assortment of landscapes and people that deserve to be painted. His paintings often stir a memory of a place or an event in the life of the viewer.

HISTORY: Greg was born and raised in a small western Illinois town twelve miles from the Mississippi River. He has lived in view of the river in Iowa since 1969. The river and the landscape near the river continues to be a major influence on his art and his desire to create it.

He became a professional artist at the age of 18 as a cartoonist, selling cartoons and political cartoons to newspapers in northwestern Illinois. From 1696 to 1981 he worked for advertising agencies and General Electric as an illustrator and designer. In 1981 he became a freelance illustrator doing illustrations in various styles for companies such as John Deere, Nissan, Yamaha, BMW, Proctor and Gamble, Miller, etc. In 1992 he began dropping commercial clients to devote more time to his drive to create paintings.

Through the years he has been experimenting with various styles of art. In the 60's and 70's he was doing nonobjective and abstract paintings in oil or colored inks, 4í x 5í heads in acrylic, and silk-screens on aluminum. Landscape though has always been the image he has drifted back to. Through all of the styles he has used, his main objective has been to create a four dimensional image on a two dimensional plain.

BORN: 9/13/48

ART EDUCATION: Self-taught

SOURCE OF INCOME:
1967-1981: Cartoonist/commercial artist for newspapers, General Electric, and advertising agencies
1981-1992: Freelance illustrator
1992-1994: Fine arts and illustration
1994-present: Fine arts

MEMBERSHIP: Signature member of the National Oil and Acrylic Painters' Society since 1996
ART IN EMBASSIES: United States Department of State Paintings in the U.S Embassy in Kuwait since 1997

SHOWS: EL DORADO GALLERY Colorado Springs, Colorado Miniature show 2001
NATIONAL OIL AND ACRYLIC PAINTERS' SOCIETY William Woods University Fulton, Missouri Signature members show 1999
WALLY FINDLAY GALLERY Chicago, Illinois 1 person show 1998
WALLY FINDLAY GALLERY Chicago, Illinois 2 person show 1997
WALLY FINDLAY GALLERY Palm Beach, Florida 3 person show 1997
WALLY FINDLAY GALLERY New York City, New York 2 person show 1997
WALLY FINDLAY GALLERY Chicago, Illinois Winter Catalog show 1996
NATIONAL OIL AND ACRYLIC PAINTERS' SOCIETY SHOW Osage Beach, Missouri 1994/95/96/99
STROBLEN GALLERIE Springfield, Illinois 1 person show 1995
KAVANAUGH GALLERY West Des Moines, Iowa 1 person show 1993
BEAUX ARTS FAIR Davenport, Iowa 1992/93
DAVENPORT ART GALLERY GUILD SHOW Davenport, Iowa 1991/92/93
RIVERSSANCE ART FAIR Davenport, Iowa

Gregory Steele was born and raised in a small western Illinois town twelve miles from the Mississippi river. Since 1969, he has lived in Davenport, Iowa in view of the river. Both the River and the surrounding landscape has been a big influence on his art. At the age of 18, Steele became a professional artist as a cartoonist selling works to newspapers in northern Illinois, and later went on to become a freelance illustrator. In 1992 he began dropping commercial clients to devote more time to his passion for creating paintings. Steele uses both color and detail to create a depth that pulls one into the painting. His main objective is to create a four dimensional image on a two dimensional plane, giving the illusion that one can walk into the painting to see what is on the other side. Steele’s paintings often stir a memory of a place or an event in the life of the viewer.

Gregory D. Steele