LAF: I first saw your work exhibited in a restaurant I was managing. I fell in love with your use of color and style. Could you tell me how you came to focus on landscapes? Does it have something to do with the fact that you own a landscaping business?

RJG: I began watercoloring as a child in England, where I grew up. I am certainly influenced by the British watercolor tradition although my colors are brighter than those of my 19th century mentors. I have been a gardener all my life and for the past 20 years a landscape designer in Marin County. I'm in love with the natural landscape, often immitating it in my designs or romanticising it in my paintings. I have been involved in community land use planning and environmental advocacy fo 20 years as well. I'm an avid back packer and hiker. I guess you could say landscape permeates almost all aspects of my life!

LAF: As we both know, the business of selling "art" has become very commercialized. How do you deal with it on a personal level? How do you pick where you're showing, and do you have an agent?

RJG: For a while I was represented by agents but sold few paintings this way. I was exhausted by weekends at the Sausalito and Mill Valley Art Festivals a few years ago. What I have enjoyed most is annual December shows at a friend's home gallery. I have, to some extent, given up on the idea of being a full time artist because I hate marketing.

LAF: After I have choreographed and set a dance, usually I never want to see the piece again. For me, it's because I'm bored and want to get on to the next piece. When you paint, do you always like your work when it's finished? How do you feel about your work after it's framed and ready to sell and/or show?

RJG: I always know after it's finished, that I have a good or bad piece. The price I put on a painting reflects this. Some, I even give away (or throw away). There are a few I wish I still had; some I am very attracted to which are not for sale. Mostly I am proud of the work I put out in the "public eye" and I am gratified when someone honors a work by purchasing it. When a work is gone, what I miss the most is to be able to observe how my technique worked to create an illusion, mood or depth so I can use the idea again. Each good piece is, for me, a lesson in detachment. Letting it go is hard.

LAF: I know that my "soul" is that of an artist. There is nothing else that I could have done and been satisfied. How do you feel about being an artist? How has it effected your life? Both in the good and not so good ways?

RJG: I feel I experience the world as an artist - through my eyes. I notice everything in a landscape. I know, and seem to have, a relationship with many plants, gardens or scenes. I feel a part of the constant change of nature. I am often aware of "helping nature along" in creating gardens or using "artistic license" in romanticising a painting. A down side is that I tend to be very critical; in looking at a beautiful garden sometimes all I see are the weeds; or in observing a landscape I am irritated by powerpoles and fences. I do feel driven to create or to imporve things in the physical world. I suppose this defines being and artist for me. When I paint I loose track of time and responsibilities. I become very self absorbed. Is this self actulization or selfishness? Probably both.

Thumbnail of: Mt. Tamalpais Sunset {98kb}

LAF: Who was the person(s) who influenced and encouraged you the most in your artistic career and what did that person do to help you?

RJG: I received discouragement from my parents about being an artist. They loved my paintings -but saw painting as a waste of time, or a best, a "pass time". My Auntie Winefred, a spinster who lived deep in the English countryside, and painted watercolors, is the person I give the most credit for encouraging my self expression. She saw everything I did as "good". Later in life I have had a number of helpful teaches and have had good support from my wife, Ellen, for taking the time to paint.

LAF: When we first met I told you about the Painted Mountains in Southern Oregon because I thought you would enjoy painting them. Does everyone you meet tell you about "spots" to paint? Do you have a foavorite place that you like to paint? Why that particular area?

RJG: People often tell me what I should paint. Sometimes there is an explicit promise to buy a painting if I paint it. What I love about these "suggestions" is that clearly, on seeing one or more of my pieces, a person has "got" the mood or spirit of a good piece; and that has evoked a memory of their own life. My first reaction after the "appreciation" is - I wish I had the time to paint all the beauty in the world. What I know is true, is that I have a backlog of ideas an places to paint, and I may never get to all of them. I am so taken with the beauty of Marin County that I could spend a lifetime just painting here, and then there is the High Sierra's, probably my favorite place to paint in peace and solitude away from responsiblity.

Thumbnail of: Fog Over Woodacre Ridge {122kb}

Interviewer bio: Lorien Anne Fenton is the director of Dance Outre, a Marin County, California based dance company. Lorien incorporates modern, ballet, jazz, and theater to create thought provoking pieces - usually based on the everyday stresses of life and love.