GREG LATCH

Like most I drew and painted through high school. When I got to college I was interested in acting and fine art at the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss; where I learned to make background scenes for stage productions this is also where I took some art classes. This is where I decided I needed to draw every day because I think drawing is the basis for all painting, sculpting you have to know how to draw in my opinion. Also, my first art teacher Gerry Allen was a master level artist in drawing and I could not stand that he could do things that I could not at that time.

I moved to New Orleans where I drew portraits of Jackson Square and took art classes from private individuals. After that I moved to Atlanta, Georgia where actively pursued being a painter this is where I discovered I had a knack for talking with people so I decided to become a registered nurse. I work with psychiatric patients, some dangerous to others some dangerous to themselves and work with schizophrenics sociopath. I work at a major emergency room in a major hospital I believe, I draw a lot from this into my art.

I give you an example of something someone said to me the other day I will just draw 666 of my four head, jump in a police car and drive away. This is the kind of conversations I have with people all day long and also some very horrific situations. I moved to Tampa, worked the jails, psych hospital in an urban area that was very rewarding.

I was in Artist unlimited  where I was exposed for 13 years with master degree artists from around the world, outside artists from every medium and also taught classes in drawing live nudes. Here I also painted for 13 years with master degree painter Ray Paul as well as many other master artists.

I myself never could seem to take to art school. I learn better on a one to one. Right now my work even though some of it is portraiture it's really not about the image it's about the concept of what the image can say in more than one way they are also a composite of different imagery placed together even though in a contrast they are still connected either through color, iconic image. This is all done using layers of oils markers tubes of oil, with brushes and different size knives, metal knives, for this continuous scraping for texture and layering adding dimension while still peeling away almost in a sculpture type way. This is totally separate from the drawing which is free-form with no preconceived idea just a release of shapes and energy and displaced feeling