"Creative Wayfinding" covers both my professional and personal artistic pursuits...

All artists have many paths. Life as a visual artist supported Greg Vineyard's blue-sky creative skills throughout his graphic design and art direction career; conversely, that conceptual mode now augments his art, clay and art consulting journey as he creates works relating to meditation and reflection, as well as projects addressing communication, relationships, spirituality, psychological issues and social politics. Greg specializes in two areas:

Ceramics for Contemplation & Connectivity: meditation/keepsake bowls, animal figurine and word groupings and other spiritually-focused items, plus custom tile designs and conceptual works utilizing mostly clay. His other loves in art are illustration and assemblage using both saved and found objects.

Greg also consults on creative branding issues, primarily for visual artists. "Creative Wayfinding, Focus & Direction for Artists"... many people in the visual arts have a myriad of visual and written materials they have produced in response to sudden needs - everything from logos to artist statements to web copy; Greg analyzes it as a whole, helping artists regroup and retool to gain a more strategic, comprehensive personal identity and branding plan.

Continuing the dual paths of visual artist and creative professional provide Greg balance, and allow him to be of service to his fellow artists.

Under the PHOTOS link, there are five galleries of various work.



All art images and visual concepts on this site copyright Greg Vineyard unless otherwise noted.

Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a concentration in Graphic Design. Continuing education at Glendale College, Glendale, CA, Burbank Community Center, Burbank, CA, Monrovia Adult School, Monrovia, CA, and a smattering of experiences at additional centers. Member of Xiem Clay Center, Pasadena, CA, 2005-2008.

Member of various arts, craft and ceramic organizations, including The Asheville River Arts District (www.riverdistrictartists.com), The Asheville Area Arts Council, The Asheville Art Museum, The American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA), Handmade in America, The American Craft Council. Former members of The Fine Arts Federation of Burbank, The Tile Heritage Foundation, and The Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts.

Meditation/Keepsake Bowls, Communication Animals, Keepsake Boxes, Toasting Vessels, Meditots, Meditation Buttons, custom tiles, other assorted ceramic pieces, greeting cards, illustration, assemblage, mixed-media art, with a personal focus on conceptual work.

Various charitable work/art donations.

My work and my studio - and often me! - can be found seven days a week at Constance Williams Studio Gallery, 9 Riverside Drive, the middle building in the CURVE Studios & Garden complex in Asheville's 150+ artist River Arts District.

Rapid River Arts & Culture Magazine: August 2009 - present: Contributing Writer, with a monthly column on art topics, including everything from artist focuses to perspectives on the business side of art to musings upon my own travels along the path in the art world. Often with a reference to my being a "Sci-fi Loving Shut-In", the columns are light, but with an intention to provide some insight for those who seek it each month.

Clingman Cafe, August 2011 - group show with the 5 Constance Williams Gallery in-house studio artists, August 2 - 31, 2011, Artists Reception: August 5, 5:30 - 8:30 pm.

Juror & Art Judge for Bele Chere, the Southeast's largest free festival, City of Asheville, July 2011.

Pictured in artsee magazine's July/August issue in a feature article on Asheville's River Arts District.

June 11-July 7, 2011: Constance Williams Gallery group show: "The Gang's All Here", in conjunction with River Arts District Studio Stroll.

Quoted in BBC Travel on-line article about Asheville, NC, art scene.

May 14-June 9, 2011: Constance Williams Gallery group show: "Samplings: Food & Art"

March 12 - April 7, 2011: "Mis-Community-Cation: Dioramas of Discord, by Greg Vineyard". The return of my annual solo conceptual show, with assemblage Communication Animal pairings, groupings and single sculptures for play and discussion, with a portion of proceeds benefiting Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+)

February 12-March 10, 2011: "Body Provocative", group show at Constance Williams Gallery.

January 2011: Social Networking Marketing Panelist, Mountain BizWorks, Asheville, NC.

August 2010: Charity Show benefitting Brother Wolf Animal Rescue, Blackbird Frame & Art, Asheville, NC.

River Arts District Members Show 2010 at the Arts Council of Henderson County, May 7 - 29, 2010.

"What's in a Word?" Clingman Cafe, May 3 - 31, 2010.

CURVE studios & garden Open House, April 2010.

Juror & Judging Panel for Bele Chere, the Southeast's largest free festival, Asheville, 2010.

CURVEilinear, Selected Works From CURVE Studios. Haywood County Art Council, Gallery 86, Waynesville, NC. January 11 - February 6, 2010. Artists Reception, Saturday, January 16, 6 - 9 pm. Served as curator and installer for a show of 18 artists.

Bowls featured in Private Mountain Communities Summer Showcase: "Highlights From The River Arts District", July 10, 2009 - December 31, 2009.

Carved box in "3 X 3 X 3D", charity show at Pack Square, Front Gallery, July 1, 2009 - July 16, 2009.

Mountain Bizworks Workshop: "Is Your Identity in Crisis?" Identity/Branding workshop for artists, June, 2009.

Meditation Bowl photo included in Look Of Asheville tourism book, 2009-2010.

Arts Council of Henderson County, River Arts District Members' Show, May 01 - June 20, 2009, piece submitted: "Tall Shino Tea Bowl".

Hatchfest Panelist, "Marketing For Artists", April 16, 2009.

Odyssey Studios & Gallery Juried Members' Show, "Growth & Renewal", March 13 - April 26, 2009, piece selected: "Carved Bowl Quintet".

Odyssey Studios & Gallery, Wall Display, "TileLife: 10 Years of Tiles by Greg Vineyard", March 13 - April 26, 2009.

River District Artists (RDA) Artist Profile for February 2009 (www.riverdisrictartists.com)

Odyssey Studios & Gallery, Asheville, NC, peer-juried selection for "favorites", January 23, 2009 – March 6, 2009, piece selected: "Housebound: The Art Of Self-Restriction - Self Imposed Exile", stoneware, 2007.

Riverside Studios Gallery, Asheville, NC, Show featuring River District Artists, November - December, 2008. Two tea bowls and one custom tile.

"Meditation Station, Reflections Past And Future", Studio City, CA, 2008. Featuring ceramic assemblages for the purposes of reflection and introspection, with a workshop table to create one's own meditation station experience. The final salon/show/sale in California before moving to North Carolina.

Juried Selection, Pharmaka III Gallery annual fundraiser, Los Angeles, December, 2007. “Discord”, raku.

One tea bowl in the Sam & Alfreda Maloof Foundation collection, Alta Loma, CA, 2007.

"Housebound: The Art Of Self-Restriction", displaying how we stop ourselves from forward growth, Studio City, 2007

"Ceramicommunication!", featuring concepts on interpersonal communication, Studio City, 2006.

HGTV - The Carol Duvall Show:(original air date: Oct 07, 2005; various re-run dates, and to air in the future on DIY channel).

"Oh, Broken Me", focusing on how even when "broken", we are whole souls, LA, 2004.

Open Show 2004, Barnsdall Park Gallery.

"Ceramics: Please Touch", focusing on the concept of "wabi-sabi", LA, 2003.

National Juried Selection, Teacup Show, Charlie Cummings Studio, 2002. “Two-greens teacup”, stoneware.

National Juried Selection, "From Earth To Fire: 20th Century Tiles", Minnesota Crafts Council, 2002. “Magnolia Inset”, stoneware.

"Two Artists", Ceramics and Paintings by Greg Vineyard & Kit Farrington, with specific spiritual and aesthetic pairings of the works, LA, 2002.

Assorted group activity, membership, shows and sales, 1999 - 2008, including Xiem Clay Center in Pasadena, CA, the American Ceramic Society - Southern CA Chapter Editor (2002-2003), Glendale College, Burbank Creative Arts Center, Burbank Fine Arts Federation, Roger Barclay Center, Monrovia Adult School.

National Competition Finalist and Selection, Under One Roof Holiday Card Project, 1996, San Francisco. Illustration.

Art Directors Club of Denver, Bronze award for letterset design, 1991

Art Directors Club of Denver, Bronze award for letterset design, 1990

Art Directors Club of Denver, Student Award, poster design, 1987.

My corporate design, art & creative direction and design project management career included working with companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Mattel Toys and Warner Bros. Records, Inc.

While I prefer to let functionality be a serendipitous event underlying IDEATION in ceramics, it's also nice to discover that people use the meditation/keepsake bowls for everything from meditation to decorative display to meals to holding paperclips at the office. In any incarnation or use, an enjoyed piece of art or craft promotes ideas like pause & reflect, heal, peace, love, appreciate, relax -- amongst many, many others. My work is now spread far and wide, from all over the United States to Italy to India, but also it's just simply in my own kitchen - I believe nourishing ourselves is also a spiritual activity and I'd rather do that with a special ceramic piece of my own or from one of my many ceramic friends.

I have always leaned toward art, design and craft that delivers a message, whether as an internal thought or from an external point, and I intend to increasingly contribute artworks to our complex society that communicate. You will never see "Untitled" in my conceptual work as I think everything has a point. I see most of my conceptual projects, and even many of the bowls in their respective styles and groupings, as "sketches", just waiting for opportunities to grow into expanded uses and larger venues with exponential circles of influence.

If you are interested in artistic expression of any kind, believe that the ability to do it flows through you, remind yourself that life is precious and short, and START NOW. I truly know you can do it, because I can do it. Contact your nearest institution of learning or community center to check for classes and schedules and dive in!

Visualize what you want in life, rather than focusing on what you don't want, or focusing on worries. (Thank you, Pat Abbott and Dr. Wayne Dyer!)

Peace, Love, Serenity.

Much of my work falls in the range of $10.00 - $60.00, with an average bowl price of $20.00, and higher-end shinos and teabowls being around $40.00. Carved boxes are about $25.00. Tiles are $20.00 - $40.00. If you are not shopping locally at Constance Williams Gallery in the River Arts District, if you see something you like on this site, let me know and I'll pull a group of similar items and send you a jpeg. OR, do as many have done and describe YOU, tell me your price range, and I'll pull selections based on my impressions of you. Shipping ranges from $5.00 - $10.00, depending on size, weight, number of items.

All other projects, as well as donations for charitable causes, evaluated/estimated on a per-inquiry basis. I strongly believe in art contributing to charity, please don't hesitate to ask.

For Creative Wayfinding, Focus & Direction for Artists, contact me for rates.

Email me through the "contact this member" feature on this website.

Each funky, colorful, out-of-round meditation/keepsake bowl is a one-of-a-kind creation, and a unique fit for you and your hands or for your environment. This is a reflection of my letting the piece just be what it is as it is formed, and also due to variations of color and texture of both the clay and glazes. I use high-fire stoneware because I like the unpredictability of final results in the kiln. This set of three exemplifies the concept of "wabi-sabi", that there is an inherent beauty to everything, even in items that at a glance might appear "ugly" or that don't fit current societal concepts of what beauty is supposed to be. While the original intent is to aid contemplation/meditation with colors and textures and shapes, the bowls are also nice decorative objects. I have meditative moments with them throughout the day. These three, "The Uglina Sisters", were my juried entry into the annual American Ceramics Society, Southern California Chapter annual members show in 2004.

My art direction sketches and logo designs have always had an illustrative style, and I found tile carving to be a new way for me to "sketch". When I am carving a tile, I feel spiritually realigned back to the artist I was supposed to be, and I feel a connection to my stonemason and craftperson ancestors, not to mention my paternal lineage - both my father and grandfather have/had craft skills I didn't feel I inherited a lick of until I started working with clay. Whatever the medium, I encourage people to try anything they feel pulled toward. An interest in learning new skills combined with a detachment from subjective critiques is handy, tuck that thought in your back pocket and go enjoy! And signing up for a class of some sort somewhere is a great way to meet new people with similar interests.

I create work in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, and "Classic Vineyards" are often designed to be slightly (or sometimes severely!) out-of-round to fit in one's cupped hands, and have texture on the outside so that even in the dark or if one's eyes are closed or if one is sight-impaired that a tactile experience is still possible. Ceramics, like all art, is a spiritual process for the creator as well as the recipient. Connecting to spirit through art heals me.

www.byregion.net: please be sure to explore the whole byregion site!

You can also find various articles and images of me and my work by doing a Google search of "Greg Vineyard + art" or "+ ceramics".

On Facebook, search for GregVineyardArt.

And look for me on Facebook under GregVineyardArt, and under Creative Wayfinding by Greg Vineyard.

Constance Williams Fine Art: constancewilliamsgallery.com

River Arts District: www.riverartsdistrict.com

CURVE studios & garden (in the River Arts District): www.CURVEstudiosNC.com

www.xiemclaycenter.com

www.ceramicmuseum.org (American Museum Of Ceramic Arts)

www.craftcouncil.org (American Craft Council)

Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts & Crafts: www.malooffoundation.org

ceramicartsdaily.org/potterscouncil (Potter's Council)

give!: www.craftemergency.org

www.pharmaka-art.org

my favorite photographers: www.martincoxphotography.com and www.bobpazdenphotography.com

feed kids!: www.FEEDprojects.org

www.projectangelfood.org

www.lafoodbank.org

Support the gift of books for the blind and dyslexic: www.rfbd.org

Give A Blue Ribbon. Or Two.: www.makeadifference.com/BR/

Learn!: www.ted.com

Live Green!: www.greenlivingtips.com

www.aspca.org

support pediatric cancer research! www.alexslemonade.org

www.readingtokids.org

www.wncap.org

Peace, xo,

greg