The Boyd Greene art story began when he was a child growing up on a small rural farm with animals and woods surrounding his little home. Boyd developed a deep affection for animals at a very young age always wanting to take in the strays that so many put out on their then rural farm. There were woods all around the farm to explore and it was in them that Boyd developed a deep appreciation for nature’s wild animals. From an early age, Boyd has seldom been far away from the pencil, paint, and paper that he has used to draw the animals that have so influenced him as a person. He began to draw animals as child while being fascinated by his older brother’s art.
Growing up as a young child hearing old men tell of his great grandfather’s feats as a master blacksmith instilled in him a desire to create great works with his own hands. Boyd would sit in full attention with a vivid imagination as they brought him to life for a little boy full of interest. He loved hearing about how he could build a whole wagon from scratch and the many ways he manipulated metal into works of mastery. His great grandfather, Robert “Bob” Green, built everything from dog irons for fireplaces to wooden wagons from scratch. His dad actually has a wagon wheel puller that he used in his blacksmith shop and two dog irons that he made.
Boyd Relaxing After a Photo Session
Having a country boy for a dad that loved the woods, Boyd learned continually about trees and animals while they hiked and fished. His dad was always pointing things out to him such as the texture of a tree’s bark, the interesting surfaces of rocks, the unique behavior of animals etc. while they hiked the surrounding woodlands. He taught Boyd to see what others never notice. It was from his dad that he grew to love the storytelling ability of America’s very own Norman Rockwell: his dad is a lifelong avid reader that loved reading the Saturday Evening Post as a child.
Boyd’s mom is hyper-creative trying anything that strikes her whimsy and it is his mother that passed on her creative spirit. As well, she passed on to Boyd her love for flowers as they worked together in her flowerbeds. Helping her with projects around the house Boyd learned to work intuitively and creatively.
As a child, Boyd and his neighbor brought Frederick Remington paintings to life playing cowboys and Indians. While crawling over stacked hay bales and scampering up old dogwood trees, he developed the imagination that is so at work in his art today. He remembers playing in the woods for hours hiding from and searching for his playmates as they sought to capture or shoot one another with their pop guns.
Boyd rode around on a black Shetland pony with a blaze on his face imagining he was a cowboy somewhere in the west tracking a forlorn bandit or desperado who had rustled some of the herd he would drive around the farm. It was just a cow and a bull but you get the picture.
Boyd and his friend waded creeks and streams in the summers of his youth to fish for trout, bream, and redeye bass. Occasionally they would run up on beaver. More often than not though, they encountered snakes. He can still remember the cold chill of the water in the mornings and the warmth in the hours before dusk as the sun heated the pools of the streams that passed through open fields of sun-bleached grass. He still remembers one of these fields that held large pools of redeye bass ripe for the picking. He figures the bass are still there.
Boyd’s favorite farm pond to fish had sunken Volkswagens and largemouth bass that swam around teasing him with their lack of interest. He did hook one seven and a half pounder, his largest bass to date, in this farm pond and broke his brother’s rod while all in stride going knee deep in mud.
Boyd has wonderful memories from the small country farm he grew up on and it greatly affects the content of his art as he shares his memories with you. You will sense Boyd’s deep appreciation for the way small farming communities enrich our country with their strong devotion to family, country, and Christ. The Cloudland Canyon area that fostered his growth as a person continues to inspire him as an artist. He reveals his love for American history and his fascination with the Old West that has so affected the rugged development of America.
Boyd developed a deep appreciation for photography from his brother-in-law, which led to his love for all things Ansel Adams. It is from Ansel that Boyd developed his great love for dramatically designed compositions with Rembrandt influencing him later as well. From studying Michelangelo di Ludovico di Lionardo di Buonarroti Simoni Boyd came to see the beauty of simplicity. Lastly, from Carl Rungius he acquired a deep appreciation for a painterly realism with masterfully designed compositions.
Boyd’s art teacher his senior year encouraged him with her accolades and by finding scholarships for him. She filled him with the belief that he could succeed as an artist and with the need for improvement with every brushstroke. She was the reason he sought to take atmospheric painting classes from master wildlife artist John Seerey-Lester which helped Boyd understand how to depict an object with a sense of depth.
In addition, his sister first saw the glimmer of creative genius that she nurtured with her continual praise and encouragement.
Boyd’s artistic career began when he got a job with Baldwin Art, an interior design company that specializes in creating beautifully designed prints and canvases with a twist for clients all over the United States and occasionally overseas. There he worked with designers and other artisans to paint mats and panels to complement art when framed. There was the occasional painting for a client, which was a challenge, and a treat that allowed Boyd to stretch himself as an artisan. He also learned much about setting up shows while traveling with the company’s owner, a master designer, to Cadarus in Dallas, Texas, to Michael Boyd Associates in Atlanta, Georgia and to Baldwin Art’s Showroom in Highpoint, North Carolina. These were large shows comprising more than 500 pieces of art. Mr. Baldwin impressed upon Boyd how important image is in art. He would put up, take down, and move art until it was absolutely hanging where it would get the most notice. He taught Boyd how to mix and match different subjects to draw attention to them by creating a flow through a showroom.
Mr. Baldwin once gave Boyd what he considers the best advice he has ever had, “Let your art career happen, don’t force it.” From that day forward, Boyd has milled this over in his head daily and it has given him great comfort in knowing that it takes time to establish oneself in the art market and has allowed him to keep busy working on his portfolio, which continually grows larger.
Occasionally Boyd would get time off from work and he would use this time to build up his portfolio often working past midnight. Then in 2007, he started looking to branch off and start Boyd Greene Fine Art. Now in 2010, he is ever striving forward seeking to establish his hold on the nature and wildlife art scene with perhaps a little western themed art thrown in occasionally. He has learned so much over the past year through study and trial and error. Boyd longs to stay active fighting through failures to gain further success.
Finally yet importantly, it is from Boyd’s wife, contemporary folk artist Jolly Holly that he has learned to saturate paintings with the zest of life.
Therefore, it is from many outlets of inspiration that Boyd’s art career springs, too numerous to list; but he is most appreciative to everyone that has given him inspiration and direction.