About Eric

Eric D Greene

Eric D Greene

Self Portrait in Conte Crayon

In the fall of 2008, I enrolled as a part-time student at Tidewater Community College’s Visual Arts Center.  Initially taking Drawing 1, and an Intro to the Visual Arts class, I had in mind to work towards an Associates degree in Graphic Design.  Since I worked full time as a web developer (and still currently do), I felt I needed to expand my skills in computer graphics.  That degree in Graphic Design was not to be, however …

At some point during Drawing 1 class with Mark Miltz, the art spirit that I had kept bottled up since high school was unleashed.  I went through a re-discovery process with my art, and continued on in the school.  The next semester I took Drawing 2 and submitted a couple of pieces from that class to the annual student art show.  I ended up winning an award in the show!

So why did I leave this talent behind?  What caused me to put the pencils away in favor of guitars and bands and college and who-knows what else I have been blindly getting into over the years…?  Well, I just can’t say for sure.  What I did know by the end of that second semester, there was actually no question – I switched out of Graphic Design immediately and changed majors to Fine Arts.  It was just meant to be that way.  I felt like I had found the right path for myself, one that had always been there just waiting for me to get on board.

It’s 2010 and I am near completion of Painting 2 and Art History 2.  Although I only have enough time to take 2 classes per semester, I am slowly but surely working my way towards that Associates in Fine Arts.  I don’t know what else is in store for the future.  I am happily employed by the Association for Research and Enlightenment, where I enjoy working as a web developer.  There is a certain creativity I put into it … oh, and it also pays the bills!  But I don’t know how far this art thing — this art spirit — will take me.  I have a lot of questions and challenges ahead.  Can I make it as an artist?  Is there even any room in the art world for me?  Who knows… I really don’t have a clue what’s next.  Maybe it’s all up to me.  All I do know for sure is that I love doing what I do and creating the art I create.

With each new piece I feel a growing confidence and discovery of what the art process is about.   In my art, I try to capture the essence of a particular subject, rather than mimic exactly what is visually seen.  It’s about evoking some kind of reaction from the viewer.  Or, about waking up something dormant within, often by surprise.  I am currently influenced by acrylic and mixed-media abstract artists such as Lisa Cyr, Kazuhiko Sano, Cynthia Von Buhler, and Nancy Reyner.  I also am a fan of visionary artists such as Alex Grey, Martina Hoffman, and Pablo Amaringo.  I have also recently discovered the incredible work of Buddhist artist Nick Dudka.

I highly recommend the following musicians:

Gogol Bordello

Manu Chao

Kultur Shock

Mike Patton

I believe everyone on the planet should spend some time listening to Terence McKenna.

My favorite ice cream is Breyer’s Cherry Vanilla.

I can be found lurking the following social media sites:

Social Media contacts

Twitter

Facebook

Plurk

Chess.com

DeviantArt

ArtWanted

I also own the the following sites: (when time permits I sometimes even update them!)

My blogs and websites

Renkai Designs

Inspiration Diary

Rank Higher, Make Money!

Shamanic Circle (my band)

Thank you for visiting!