The son of the artist Tom Beecham, Greg grew up hunting, fishing, observing
nature and learning to draw—always aware of a yearning to follow
in his father’s footsteps. He remembers standing for hours with
his dad, studying the movements of whitetail deer in the woods behind
their home.
His dream of studying full-time with his father had to be postponed
until Greg completed a tour in the U.S. Navy. He enlisted as a hospital
corpsman and served on the Guided Missile Destroyer the USS John S. McCain,
which sailed home from Vietnam just six days after Beecham reported for
duty. Finally, in 1978, after a few years at Southern Oregon State College,
father and son dedicated themselves to developing Greg’s fine art
career. At an art show in 1985, Beecham was further inspired by Bob Kuhn,
who gave me “permission,” as Greg puts it, to play with paint.
Since then, Beecham has won many awards for his fluid unions of animal
and environment, including Best of Show, People’s Choice and Artist’s
Choice awards at the C.M. Russell Auction; Best of Show, People’s
Choice and Featured Artist honors at the Pacific Rim Wildlife Art Show,
and the Wildlife Art News Award at the Society of Animal Artist’s
Art Exhibition. He was just asked to be special guest artist at the ‘99
Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. In addition, Beecham’s artwork
has been exhibited in the Museum of Natural History in Beijing, China
and is in the permanent collection of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum
and the Clymer Museum in Ellensburg, Washington.
A devout Christian, Greg Beecham honors the beauty of creation while
raising his children to become productive, caring people and remaining
a loving husband to his wife of more than twenty years. “I try
to create interesting compositions, complimented by dynamic color harmonies,
light and value,” he says. “My motto? Do all things unto
the Lord and get so good you can’t be ignored.”
Print shown: Step Into the Light |
