Greg Kelsey has spent most of his life nurturing two
inherent interests: art and ranching. He grew up in an art family with his mother being a high school art
teacher. He also worked his
grandfather’s registered longhorn herd and fostered a love for western
traditions and cowboy living. Now
his sculptures reflect his long involvement with ‘cowboy life’ and his love of
art.
During the heavy winter of ’95 Greg once again found
himself feeding cows in three feet of snow while working as a ranch hand in
Southwestern Colorado waiting for the summer rodeo season. It wasn’t too hard
for his mother to convince him to head back to college. His artistic calling
was brought to the fore while taking the only sculpture class offered. The
first day, he knew he had found his medium and knew what he was meant to do
with the rest of his life. After
finishing the semester with no other sculpting classes to take, he plunged
right into sculpting on his own. Over
the next several years he sought the advice and critique of sculpting masters
while cultivating his own art career.
Being mostly self taught, sculpture has been a continual
journey of growth for Greg. For
him each sculpture presents a special set of problems. Finding the perfect solutions is the key
to artistic growth and good sculpture. “That’s the hard and easy part of it,” he explains, “In every action there
are simple, artful lines that occur naturally. An artist should find those lines and put them to use to help
him create the overall shape and movement of the piece – put the art in it. The challenge is to bring the action
across, in harmony with those lines, and let the piece live.”
These days Greg keeps his own small herd of longhorns and a
few head of horses. Though
he keeps a busy daily work schedule in the studio, he makes time to
crawl on the back of a horse to re-gain a little inspiration and peace of
mind. As Greg figures it one feeds
the other - any time in the studio or time with his stock is time well spent. His western themes stem from his own
life. “Whether it’s buckin’
horses, ropin’, pushin’ cows or whatever, that’s where I get my inspiration for
art and for everyday decisions. That’s the current, right there. You get out of the current and all those ideas and abilities seem to
pass you by. Get back in the
saddle; and its all there again.”
Of his art, Kelsey states, “I believe you should paint or
sculpt what you know and love. For
me, the story of the western life is worth being told in an authentic way. When you live it, you can show a
perspective that’s not always seen from afar.” He feels that being able to use his talent every day is a
blessing, “There’s a real connection with the Creator when you live the dream.”
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