Meet Colleen Gregoire

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Colleen Gregoire a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Colleen , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I believe a person’s work ethic thrives on several factors: a supportive environment, self-confidence in response to that environment, and a personal drive to always improve. These factors have helped propel my career as an artist and arts advocate for over 40 years.

I was raised by parents who were committed to their children and their families, in spite of the long working hours that was required of my father’s career as a physician. My mother was a stay at home mom, raising me and my three brothers, but was also an active community volunteer and a nurse at our elementary school. I credit both of my parents for encouraging my artistic path from a very early age. I was able to study art privately at a local artist’s studio as a teen, and teachers often gave me extra art projects such as posters and murals to complete for the school.

After winning awards for my paintings in high school, there was no question I would pursue a college degree in the arts. Scholarship recognition continued, and I went on to complete a BFA and MFA in painting, and coursework towards a MA in art history at the University of Kansas. This recognition and support gave me the self-confidence to teach at the college level at several institutions in the Kansas City area and simultaneously pursue a number of galleries to sell my work. Being an artist, or an instructor of the arts, is fairly autonomous work. Usually you must choose your own direction, whether it is in the studio or the classroom. I was continually blessed with faculty team members and fellow artists who were supportive and willing to share positive critiques about my work.

That’s where the self-confidence comes from. Critiques among peers are a common activity in the arts. Continuous praise can oftentimes ring hollow. Yes some opinions, which you have to recognize as just that, can be crushing, but at the same time inspiring. Respecting other people’s opinions is a big part of knowing who you are, and where you want your work to go.

The personal drive to continue my artistic career into “retirement years” stems from what some might term a compulsion. It’s really about not getting stuck in a rut, following the same old playbook. It’s about finding new artistic paths. The need to constantly create is what keeps me going day to day, whether it is painting plein air with a group of friends, working in my studio on a series of architecturally inspired paintings, or designing a newsletter for a regional arts organization. Yes, I still thrive on approval (i.e. sales) of my work, which keeps the self confidence strong, and provides hope that your talents are being enjoyed in the homes of many individuals for years to come. But there’s always a push to keep going, to improve, and to try something new on the canvas.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Colleen Zacharias Gregoire grew up in the Midwest, and studied drawing and painting privately before receiving her MFA in painting from the University of Kansas, where she began a life-long love for the local landscape. Her work also focuses on architectural settings that reflect the intimacies of daily life. Porches and verandas of the 19th and 20th century, and the way in which people incorporate them as a welcoming space to their homes continue to be featured in her work.

Colleen relocated to Placitas, NM in the fall of 2020, and has enjoyed new-found inspiration for her oils and watercolor paintings. She is a member of the Wild Hearts Gallery, a cooperative, where she displays her oils, watercolors and hand painted glassware. She displays her work in the annual Placitas Studio Tour, and is a member of the Placitas Community Library’s Art Committee, which organizes monthly art exhibitions. She also edits the monthly online newsletter for the Rio Grande Art Association, a regional arts group focusing on supporting artists in New Mexico.

“My paintings are inspired by a spiritual sense of ‘home’; a quiet respite defined by the house we live in or the land around us, and illuminated by the changing light and colors of the seasons. Experiencing the New Mexico landscape with a newcomer’s eyes has provided new energy to my paintings, especially when I’m painting plein air. I continue to seek out architectural subjects of front porches, porticos and verandas as a subject to paint, for reasons historical as well as artistic. These snapshots of daily life suggest a stage-like setting, cast with the changing light from season to season and the rich play of colors that harmonize to define a personal and very intimate space.”

Colleen’s award winning paintings are in numerous private and public collections. You are invited to view more of her work at www.czgstudios.com.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1) Offering positive energy to others. This is my “educator roll” coming through. Helping someone get through a process that is new to them, and when they realize that they, too, can achieve a goal, is almost as rewarding for me as it is for them.

2) Follow your heart. It’s so easy to take a direction in your work that may be more pleasing to others, but now so fulfilling to you. It’s the quickest way to burn out. Stay with your passions, even if they are yours alone.

3) Organize your life. I personally work best in a neat, well organized environment, plus, I hate getting my hands dirty! You can have several different projects going at the same time, but having your tools clean and organized helps make the most of every hour that you can be creating. That being said, be sure to balance your time between work and family/friends. Your legacy is not the best painting you’ve ever done—it’s how people remember you as a person.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

My family has been the most helpful in overcoming the challenge of time management and balancing work with personal time. It’s very easy to lose track of time and seclude yourself from the outside world when you are engrossed in a big project. Having a son (now grown) to care for and a husband to truly partner with as a parent and friend has been essential to reaching that balance. Their ongoing support continues to foster my success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.czgstudios.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/colleen.gregoire.1

Image Credits

All images provided by Colleen Z Gregoire