A few months ago I was interviewed by Beach Rays. Check out the interview here. (they also have great beach clothing!)
1. What is your name and when did you start painting?
Grant Pecoff, I started drawing when I was very young, maybe three or four, I remember my sister had a set of markers, it had every color imaginable, and I would sit for hours drawing and coloring. I started painting more seriously when I was about 10. Then in high school my world opened up when I was introduced to some of the great masters by my high school painting teacher, David Newcomb, and started receiving more professional instruction. Mr. Newcomb taught me how to open my eyes to the color all around me.
2. Why did you start painting?
I started painting to express what was on the inside. By nature, I am more introverted than extroverted, and I have so much feeling in my body and my heart that I can find no better way to express these feelings other than in paint. It affords me the opportunity and outlet to take the inspiration I get from my surroundings and life, and communicate and share it with the rest of the world.
3. What are some of your favorite moments in your career?
For almost two years, my wife and I lived on a boat, cruising through the islands of The Bahamas. I set up my studio at the back of the boat, and I painted there, at one with the nature, studying the subtle nuances and energetic essence of my subject. There I was, floating in the beautiful mind-blowing aqua water, with the brilliant sun overhead, a gentle breeze on my face, all the time in the world, nowhere to be, painting the world around me.
Another favorite moment: Early in my career I went to Europe and North Africa for three months traveling with my backpack and paints. I was there to get inspired, paint, and then exhibit those newly-created paintings at a gallery in Tarifa, Spain. Let me backtrack…five weeks earlier, I had met a girl in San Diego. So, during my trip to Europe and North Africa, I decided to I fly her out to meet me in Spain. Once she arrived, I knew she was the “one.” The night my art show opened in Tarifa, I proposed to her atop the castle walls of the old city, overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar with the lights of Africa twinkling in the distance. Newly engaged, we continued on through Europe, and got married in Provence, France… all the while I continued to paint the countries we visited. We arrived back to San Diego, where I opened my first gallery and subsequently sold out the entire series I had created on that trip in Europe. Some things are just meant to be.
4. What do you think is the future of your industry?
I think more and more two-dimensional artists will be experimenting with three-dimensional work and hybridizing the two. It will be more of a three-dimensional world, with new technology like 3D TV, holograms, 3D printing, and nanotechnology. As always with art, with the advent of new materials and technologies, we will see them being manipulated in ways which have never been done before.
5. If you could, what is one thing would you do differently?
I would have continued my academic education in the arts.
6. What is some advice for young artists trying to have a career like yourself?
Get some experience and/or education in business and marketing. Be open to everything and everyone. Throw yourself into your work with passion. Eat, breathe, and live art. Invite possibility. Ask for support from your community. And of course, paint, paint, paint!(create, create, create).
7. What is the next big project you have planned?
I am currently working on creating large murals and art pieces for new buildings presently under construction in downtown San Diego.
To visit BeachRay's website and to see the full article, click here: http://beachrays.com/news/2012/04/grant-pecoff-interview/
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