Greg Sobran was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts in 1947, where his father was a tool designer and engineer. A few years later, his family moved to Michigan where he attended public schools. Greg displayed an artistic talent since childhood; and his mother, a professional portrait painter, taught him basic perspective and color techniques at a young age. From these early years on, he admired the work of Albert Marquet, John Singer Sargent, and the Canadian Group of Seven (Greg's Grandfather was French-Canadian). These artists remain among his favorites today.
Greg graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 1969 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. His oil painting professor, David Sharp, encouraged him to paint "en plein air" long before the recent re-popularization of this artistic approach. After college, Greg created commercial art for a living while continuing to paint outdoors as a hobby. He worked freelance for twenty years, and for a short time operated a cabinet shop and crafted custom woodwork.
In 1989, circumstances led Greg to take time off from commercial work to travel and paint, and he has made a living exclusively from his fine art ever since. He now travels almost constantly to paint the majority of his scenes on location; taking the occasional brief stint to complete larger works at his studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Greg, his wife Wanda, and their little dog, Jigs, spend two months out of each year in Europe, as well as extensive periods in South Florida, California, and the Rocky Mountains. Summers are always spent on Northern Lake Michigan, where the Sobrans have a summer studio and gallery.
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