We’re looking forward to introducing you to Gregory Mayse. Check out our conversation below.
Gregory, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What is a normal day like for you right now?
My day starts knowing what is on my work list. Being an artist is more than just painting. Days are spent planning for shows, entering shows, creating new concepts for paintings, inventory, social media, marketing, banking, writing, drawing, painting, framing and varnishing paintings.
I try to plan the next day the night before. Allowing time for painting, all the business things and even a few minutes to play the guitar.
There are always a million decisions to make in the day, especially when I am painting. You have to allow time to “put out the fires” that pop up. I also allow time for inspiration from reading, studying artwork by others or listening to music.
There are times throughout my day that I need to step away, get outside or walk our dog Avery. Times when you have to allow the answers to come to you.
Having my own business also allows me to take breaks and come back to a painting later in the day. Sometimes it is late at night.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
The majority of my life I have worked in in a creative field. I have managed photofinishing labs, worked at a professional image lab where we made prints for artists. I have worked as a graphic designer and done advertising layout. I have worked as a photojournalist and writer for a newspaper. Owned my own photography studio, as well as a wildlife photography business. I owned a small gallery to sell my wildlife images as well as selling them at juried art festivals.
Around 2012 I started getting interested in painting again. Have an abundance of wildlife photos, I used them as references. In 2019 I was visiting an art show and noticed some amazing paintings of the Old West. This really sparked my interest and since them I have focused my painting on the lives and characters of the Old West.
In a short period of time I have taken my artwork from small local art shows to the national level. The majority of the time I will concentrate on Western Art themed shows. This past summer I was invited to the Stampede Art Exhibition and Sale and the Cheyenne Frontier Days Art Show & Sale. In 2026 I plan on returning to the biggest western art show week in the country in Great Falls, Montana.
To gather quality reference photographs for my paintings I attend a key western photoshoots in Kansas, Wyoming or South Dakota. This is where myself and fellow artists photograph models in period-correct clothing, weapons, wagons and tack for their horses. A mixture of cowboys, cowgirls, mountain men, pioneers and Native American models are available. The photographs from these sessions are just the start of the inspiration for a new painting. I work to build a story around the main character. Often, it is adding more characters, horses, props and the changing the setting to tell the story.
I will continue to create my western art and be amazed at where it takes me next.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
My father worked at an auto plant for nearly 40 years. When I was 19 I started working at the same plant. I knew this wasn’t what I wanted to do for 40 years. After working there for a year and a half there was a big layout.
Fortunately the union had added a Training Readjustment Allowance for the benefit of laid off workers. I had always enjoyed painting and doing a little photography in high school. This was my chance to start a new path. I attended a local college and got an Associate Degree in Graphic Communication. Basically a degree in art, design and photography. This led me to my first job as a writer, photojournalist and doing advertising layout for a newspaper. Next up I manage a photo lab and started pursuing my photography.
I knew I had to keep working on something creative.
This let me to start my own photography studio, which led me to start my own wildlife photography business and gallery. Next up I working for one of the top imaging labs in the country where we would photograph and make prints of their artwork. Being involved in the customer service side of the business led me to being inspired to start painting again.
I feel once that once I started doing photography back in the early 1980’s the world was telling me that I need to keep creating. So for the past 40 or so years the world keeps telling me to create.
Doors keep opening and opportunities are still coming to me. Recently, I was attending a “Painting the West” workshop in Wyoming for a few days. It was a workshop that covered painting horses and Native Americans. There were also photography sessions with the models. This is a perfect workshop for me. Plus I was there to write an article and take photos for Art of the West magazine about the workshop. Now I was there as an artist, photographer and writer. Just keep saying yes when a door opens!
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
To my younger self I would say…
“Greg, decide earlier in life what you would really like to do as a career. Focus your energy on that and all things related. Get in touch with people what are actually doing what it is you want to do. Learn from them. Ask the important questions.
Look at what they have learned along the way. See how their journeys have affected their lives. Find out what sacrifices they had to make made along the way.
Keep an eye on the future. Make more 5 year plans.
So if I had to say just one kind thing to my younger self it would be “Find your dream and follow it.”
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
I wish I could recall where I first read this line..
“Expect more from yourself than others could ever imagine”.
It has part of my life since my teens. Whether it was sports, music, photography or painting. I always expect more from myself. Which means, constantly working to improve myself and my skills. Put in the time to make the sacrifices necessary to reach your goal.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I now feel that I am doing what I was born to do. I feel stronger about my painting than I felt about my photography career. Looking back I wish I had not stopped painting in college. Where would my painting journey be now?
I have never been one for working at something that I was told to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gregorymayse.com
- Instagram: gregorymaysefineart
- Facebook: gregory mayse fine art
Image Credits
These are all my images.
