Check Out Gregory Mortenson’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gregory Mortenson.

Hi Gregory, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in southern Utah on a ranch. We raised horses and occasionally cows, chickens, geese, and turkeys. My childhood was the quintessential ranch life. I gathered eggs in the morning and picked fruit from the orchard. My siblings and I shared the chores of feeding the animals and mucking the stables.

As a child I loved art and was constantly drawing my surroundings. I grew up to be an artist and ended up in New York to study at the Grand Central Atelier. I was classically trained in figure painting and drawing. My school followed a similar curriculum to the 19th-century French academies where my art heroes had all studied. I only intended on being in New York while I studied, yet 16 years later I’m married with two kids and still living in New York.

My wife and I realized we were raising city kids through and through. We made it a point to spend as much time in Utah as we could. We usually spend two to three months on the ranch each year. I want my kids to experience the rich childhood that I had, while simultaneously reliving it vicariously through them.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a fun ride so far. Each door that opens up is better than the last.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Sometimes I like to think of my career like an art history book. Each new chapter covers a different series of paintings. Early in my career, I received some accolades for an ongoing series of self-portraits. I try and do one every year. Though I’ve fallen behind and haven’t done one in a few years.

Chapter two of my career was a series I worked on over a ten-year period. I painted portraits of people I met in Haiti. My wife and I traveled to Haiti shortly after the earthquake in 2010. One of my childhood friends was working with an orphanage to try and rebuild everything that was lost. We helped for a short period with those efforts, and a few years later I returned to teach some art classes. While I was there, I drew and painted anyone that would sit for me. I developed those sketches into a series of paintings that celebrated the triumph of the human spirit that I witnessed there.

Chapter three of my career is an ongoing series of commissioned religious artwork. I’m having so much fun with this series. So many of the old masters that I’ve looked to all my life for inspiration were commissioned to do religious work. Now I get to do large, ambitious, multi-figural narrative compositions. I enjoy going to work every day.

Chapter Four of my career is one that I am just now embarking on, a series of western-themed paintings. I feel like I am really returning to my roots. As a child, that was all I ever drew. Cowboys and horses. There is brilliant naïveté to children’s drawings because they are just drawing what’s in their hearts. I feel like I’m revisiting my five-year-old self and I’m enjoying his company.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Find someone that inspires you. If you can study under them, study with them. If you can’t, look at their resume. Who did they study with? How did they achieve their level of mastery and accolades. Which awards have they won? Which magazines and books have they been published in? Follow their footsteps and eventually, you’ll start making your own.

Contact Info:

• Website: gregorymortenson.com
• Instagram: @gregorymortenson
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/gregory.mortenson