Autobiography of Greg Pearson

I was born in 1964 at Hinsdale Hospital and raised in Downers Grove. I was the third child and the third son of Fred and Vivian Pearson. My fraternal twin, Marty, beat me into the world by 20 minutes, and our three-year old big brother was waiting for us. Six years later, my sister Andrea was born. She completed our immediate family.

My Dad was a journalist, philosopher, political scientist, and lover of music and literature. My mother was a musician — a degree in piano and a student of voice, as well as performing professionally in both areas.

We lived in a modest Cape Cod home with a 285-foot deep wooded yard. We loved to throw a baseball and football with my Dad. My brothers and I studied stringed instruments and played in school orchestras. My sister studied piano and became quite a singer as well. My passion was golf. I once hit a hole in one trying out for the high school varsity golf team.

My Dad was teaching at the School for New Learning at DePaul University when it was time for Marty and me to
enter college. We both decided to attend DePaul. After two years, I took a year off, and then transferred to Northern Illinois University – at Dekalb.

By Thanksgiving of that year, I had been diagnosed with a severe illness that made it impossible for me to complete school or work for some time. Between 1985 and 1993, I struggled with various medications that didn't work, I went to school part time and worked part time. It was also a difficult time in other ways.

In 1986 my Dad was killed in a car accident. Then in 1987, my best friend came home from college to see me, and was hit by a drunk driver and killed. These are events that bring setbacks that medication cannot cure. But in 1993, my doctor found a medication for my illness which worked and began to give my life back. I noticed the beauty of the sun and clouds in the sky, and could smile again

Somewhere along the way I started to make art, drawings mainly at first. It's not so expensive to buy a pencil and some paper. I was searching for something. I was fascinated about the power of drawing — seeing something materialize before my very eyes — something that appears and then is there to look at, to keep or to change, or discard.

There is something very human about art. Once it is made, it's "out there" for anyone to make of it what they will, good or bad. It is communication — visual communication, essentially silently telling a story,

It's something anyone could do if they put their mind to it. The experience can be quite therapeutic. It's like holding a mirror up to your imagination. You, a person, can label art as one thing or another, as a starting point to say, "that's abstract," for example.

Why make art? Why make music? Without them the world is a cold and empty place. They keep us in tune with the part of life that goes beyond just survival. They give people a reason to wonder and to imagine what was, what is, and what will be.

Art can be philosophical, like considering an idea. Certain colors can represent meaning. Some of the more prevalent motifs, like a tree or waterfall, are symbolic, and can mean something different according to the individual… or they can be universal.

If you have a dream and try to record it with a brush and canvas, it can be very insightful and give you a glimpse into a person's psyche.

Since my early twenties, I've wanted to do something constructive with my life. I also wanted to be creative. I sort of discovered art accidentally. I took my first art class when I was a freshman at DePaul University. It was called "Creating Art." I had taken drafting and technical drawing in high school, and I like it a lot. But it was rather a strict discipline with many rules to follow. When I discovered art, it was like opening a door to another world. It was more free and interesting than drawing with a ruler all the time. Years later, I slowly began to make art, starting with freehand drawing and eventually paintings and even sculptures.

I received an Associates Degree in Art from the College of DuPage in 1999. I also worked in an arts supply store for a year-and-a-half. My work has been in several art shows, where I have sold paintings.

Although most of my work is abstract, I can appreciate many different styles, especially modern architecture (Mies Van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright). Because of the great architecture there, going into the city of Chicago can be very inspirational.

In my free time, I like to play golf. Naturally.