I am a self-taught, multi-award winning international abstract acrylic artist, author and entrepreneur located in southwest Florida. 

Both of my parents died in their early 50's, so I have always had a certain quest for living life to the fullest, and for the spirit of adventure.

Consequently, I have traveled to over 100 countries gathering inspiration for my paintings over the past 20 years. In January of 2018, my wife Mary and I sold our house, cars and furniture and traveled to 73 different countries all around the globe over a 2 1/2 year period before getting stuck in Quito, Ecuador when the pandemic hit. We traveled 134,000 miles, visited 251 cities and stayed in 128 different accommodations over the course of the trip. 

Some highlights included: The Pyramids, The Louvre, The Great Wall of China, Hiroshima, Japan, Angkor Wat, Auschwitz, The Acropolis, Machu Picchu, Pompeii, Panama Canal, Iguazu Falls, The Berlin Wall, Pearl Harbor and an African safari. We skydived in Fiji, repelled waterfalls in Costa Rica, ziplined in Panama, paraglided off the cliffs in Madeira, watched the sunrise from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia, Turkey, observed the stars from the Dark Sky Reserve in New Zealend, hiked the Rainbow Mountains in Peru and we even worked at an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I created my "Wanderlust Series" to commemorate our epic trip and all 6 pieces are now for sale in my online store. 

When I retired from a successful high tech startup in 2017 just before my 59th birthday, I soon rediscovered my passion for painting after a long hiatus. Once I had created enough inventory, I launched my art business and online store in the fall of 2020. I aspire to follow in the footsteps of other late bloomers in life such as Colonel Sanders, Grandma Moses, Paul Cezanne and Frank McCourt. 

I have been told that looking at my paintings is comparable to lying on your back, looking up at the clouds and trying to interpret the shapes that you see. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a whole lot of fun to me!

The heart and soul of my paintings emanates from vividly seeing colors and shapes in my daily life and from the adventures that I have had all around the world. I have been passionate about abstract art since I was a child. Most of my paintings attempt to capture a dream or experience that I have had at some point in my past. Music plays a key role in conjuring up day dreams, which many times, I even have a hard time understanding. Somehow, between my head, heart and hand, I reproduce these memories on canvas for others to interpret with me. 

Of course, in every place I have traveled to I have also been inspired by the art I have seen in galleries and museums. I have especially enjoyed the works of Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Miro, Alexander Calder and Jackson Pollock. My artwork is a reflection of my life’s journey, adventures and experiences and I am thrilled to be able to share it with you. 

I am happy to report that over 100 pieces of my artwork now hang in homes all across the U.S. and Europe. It has been very gratifying to create work that people actually feel a connection to.

While I am not painting, I enjoy going to the theater and live music events, playing golf and softball, traveling with my wife and recording music in my home studio. 

I also race stock cars and have done so on 23 NASCAR tracks across the country for the last 12 years and still enjoy doing so today. My top speed was 180 MPH at Talladega Speedway! My favorite track was Indianapolis.

As a former music producer and concert promoter, I am a huge fan of adult alternative music. I have published over 100 playlists on Spotify under "Alternative Tastemaker" and "Tastemaker Spectrum". You can follow me here: Garry's Spotify

In the spirit of giving back to the arts community, I served as the President of the Art Council of Southwest Florida (ACSWF) in 2022, which is an "umbrella" 501 (c) (3) organization consisting of 21 art associations, 2 cooperative galleries and over 6,000 member artists and craftspeople. I continue to assist the organization as Past President. I am also serving as a Board Member of Marco Island Center for the Visual and Performing Arts.

RECENT ARTIST AWARDS & RECOGNITION - CLICK HERE

GALLERY REPRESENTATION

COCO Art Gallery at Coconut Point Mall - Estero, Florida 

COCO Art Gallery at Coastland Center Mall - Naples, Florida 

My work was formerly for sale in the following galleries: 

DAAS COOP Gallery - Fort Myers, Florida

Five 3 Gallery = Laguna Beach, California

Five Deuces Galleria - St. Petersburg, Florida

The Dancing Crane - Bradenton, Florida

ART ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS - Current/Past:

Marco Island Center for the Arts, Marco Island, Florida - Current

United Artists of Collier County, Naples, Florida - Current

Bayshore Arts District, Naples, Florida - Current

Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, Florida

Fort Myers Beach Art Association, Fort Myers, Florida 

Art Center Manatee, Bradenton, Florida

Visual Arts Center, Punta Gorda, Florida

Gulf Coast Artists' Alliance, St. Petersburg, Florida 

Visual Artists International Association, London, England

EDUCATION:   

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 2000 - CSS Graduate Business Degree

Stanford University - Stanford Certified Project Manager - 2016

DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois 1994 - Bachelor of Arts

Fisher College, Boston, Massachusetts, 1985 - Associate in Science 

Experience:   

• Multi-Award winning self-taught international acrylic abstract artist - 1995 to Current 
• World traveler - Traveled to over 100 countries in the past 20 years 
• Entrepreneur - Founded/led 4 startups: IT consulting and IT security, home construction, record label and interactive video for the music industry 
• Published Author of: “50 Ass Kickin’ Lessons for the Entrepreneur Wannabe” a five star/best seller in several Amazon categories
• Inventor/innovator - launched the first digital music download store in New England in 2003. Launched the first interactive video platform (BandDigs) for the music industry in 2006 
• Music producer, record label owner and concert promoter working with talent such as Maroon 5, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Suzanne Vega, Lily Tomlin and Journey 
• Home designer, land developer and builder of single family homes in Massachusetts and New Hampshire - owned and operated two different businesses for 10+ years 
• Retired High Tech Executive - Operated at the VP level for over 20 years at 6 different companies such as Icontrol Networks, Polycom, Polaroid, Aavid Thermalloy, Vette Corp. and Digital Equipment Corporation

My art business has been designated as a "Trusted Art Seller" with The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stands behind the quality and value of my products.

Inspiration

I find my inspiration in colors, shapes, dreams, music, travel, animals, technology, architecture, love, passion and relationships. I also find it while dealing with life’s every day challenges. I have loved abstract art my entire life and, as a result, have surrounded myself with it. I display original art from 20 different artists and 10 countries in my home gallery.

Techniques

I paint using acrylics and mostly with brushes and palette knives. I use texture quite a bit in my paintings. I also use high flow paints to create certain pieces. Most all my work will be finished off with high gloss, which really make the colors and texture pop.