| G. HARVEY |
By Norman Koplas
Whether he’s sculpting, painting rollicking frontier scenes, or creating luminous canvases and prints, G. Harvey is an expert at harnessing the particular power art possesses to tell stories. Doing so has been a lifelong pursuit. “I always loved to sketch, draw, whittle, and carve,” says the artist, who was born and raised in the Texas Hill Country and lives there today. That love finally reached full flower in the mid-1960s when Harvey left his teaching job to create full time. More than four decades later, the award-winning, widely collected artist still marvels at the move. “Now that I’m in my 70s, it’s a blessing to be able to say that I enjoy art now more than I ever have.”
Born: San Antonio, TX, 1933.
Resides: Fredericksburg, TX.
Proudest accomplishment: Every day, I’m glad to be alive and to be able to come to the studio and work with the same passion that I had when I first started.
| TRAILING THE CANYON LIGHTS, OIL, 48 X 36. |
Advice to young artists: Being an artist is a one-man business, and you have to dig deep and have that desire and passion to do your very best. There are so many things in the business world of art that can knock you off course. But with that drive and passion, you can survive.
Biggest misconception about an artist’s life: Some people feel that an artist goes to the studio and picks up that magic brush and—Shazam!—there it is. They don’t realize the complexity of the creative spirit.
How has your work changed since starting out? My work started off tightly detailed. My art teachers told me not to insult the viewer, that the mind can render better than the hand. My work now is more diffused and softer.
How has the art market changed? Today an artist does a painting and a gallery puts it on its website, and all the collectors see it immediately worldwide. If it hasn’t sold in two or three months, that piece can be overexposed, and then nobody wants it.
Other interests: Every two months or so, we take a break and get away, to New York, or Yosemite, or the Tetons. I say, “The bucket’s empty. Let’s go!” It’s a re-creative process.
Recent news: In early March, I’m receiving the Briscoe Legacy Award at the Night of Artists held at the Briscoe Western Art Museum in San Antonio. Later that month, Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale will show a cross-section of material I’ve done since September.
He is represented by Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, and Jackson, WY; Whistle Pik Galleries, Fredericksburg, TX.
Featured in “Legends of Fine Art” in December 2008