Artist, Paintings, Landscape, Abstract

my story

“Let me tell you a little about myself”

This is me

I stretch my own canvas, but, let me stretch the story of my life (what a prescient metaphor) for you in this short slideshow....click next.

Childhood

At a young age I had an impeccable sense of visual balance

Childhood

As I grew older I explored with visual chaos, sunglasses were still an absolute must though...

Pre-Adolescance

by 13 I had started painting, and it became a primary way for me to explore the world around me

I painted lakes...

I painted the ocean

I painted on rocky crags...

My penchant for style continued on into my high school years

Exploring

I didn't only paint, I also explored the world, and to this day am always up for an adventure. This is me canoeing the Wabash River, my friend Daniel and I canoed nearly 400 miles from Chesterfield, down the White River to the Wabash River to the Ohio River, it was pretty epic...

Adventure

I also went on long bike trips with my Dad and brother. This was in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

During college my dad and I built a studio in my garage...I still miss this tiny little first studio. It is now used for storage at my parents house

I built a medium and large easel on the walls....pretty nifty

First Solo Exhibit - The Door

This was a piece from my first solo exhibit which was at the Columbia Club in Indianapolis, IN

Solo Exhibit - The Church

This was another piece from my first solo exhibit. I began to explore architectural themes and a more geometric ordered form in the landscape...unfortunately I had not yet learned to take quality photographs of my paintings

Second Solo Exhibit - Pavilion Interior III

Two years later during my Junior year of college I had a second solo exhibit at the Columbia Club. I continued to push the abstraction of my work, and began to study the geometric shapes of interior rooms and light...

Second Solo Exhibit - Blocks I

...and began my series "blocks." These two early paintings show the seed that grew into my 2008-2009 portfolio: Interiors, Landscapes, and Blocks

Interiors, Landscapes, and Blocks

As this series matured I continued to explore the geometric shapes of interiors, juxtoposed with the light and atmosphere that would diffuse and soften the geometric lines

Interiors, Landscapes, and Blocks

I also continued to explore the natural landscape looking for the geometric abstract forms to be found in Nature

this abstract was inspired by my study of pavement.

Wabash

After college I moved to Wabash, Indiana where I managed the Wabash Hoosier Salon Gallery, continued to paint...

Wabash

....And we had great Haloween Parties...

Wabash

...where Teddy Roosevelt photo bombed Lady GaGa

Wabash

While in Wabash I worked on the "Monuments" exhibit. Which was a tribute to Indiana's manufacturing past. These panels were the face of the Borg Warner Factory.

Monuments

I installed the paintings into wooden frames, each "Box" or "Monument" was a different factory in Indiana that had been shuttered. The exhibit was first installed at The Elephant Room Gallery in Chicago, the exhibit was then shown in various small towns across Indiana.

Monuments Exhibit

I gave an artist talk at The Elephant Room about the exhibit. I shared stories of my exploration of the old factories including being chased off the rail road tracks behind Borg Warner, and sneaking into the BPB Celotex Factory

Monuments

The Exhibit moved to Marion, Indiana where I exhibited it at my Alma Mater Indiana Wesleyan University, and at the Community School of the Arts

Monuments

...and the exhibit was shown in Wabash, Indiana

Topography

This is the biggest painting I have ever done, it was inspired by the wall of green that is the Salamonie River Damn. This is part of my "Topography" portfolio which followed the Monuments exhibit. In this exhibit I turned back to Landscape, but with a focus on man-made interventions in the land, such as damns, gravel pits, and landfills

Study of Landscape Architecture (MLA)

Then I decided I had more to learn about the world and the landscape around me, so I moved to Muncie Indiana to study a Master in Landscape Architecture. During this period I learned many things about the world, the infrastructure of the land, and how to read the landscape in a deeper way.

The College of Architecture and Planning

I studied with all these great colleagues, and learned to look deeper at the world and make cool graphics like the following slides....

MLA - Site Context Study

MLA - Site Analysis Study

MLA - Conceptual Ilustration

MLA - Park(ing) Day 2015

During my time at Ball State we created this Park(ing) day intervention...

MLA - Park(ing) Day 2015

And we played a rousing game of Farkle in a parking spot...

Brazil

During my study we went to Brazil to study sustainable development in the South Atlantic Rainforest. While there I gazed at the scenery...

Brazil

I watched the sunrise on Copacabana Beach...

Brazil

went to the Iracambi research center in Minas Gerais where I....

Brazil

helped build a house out of Bamboo...

Brazil

Climbed a mountain with cool new friends...

Brazil

and was inspired by the new landscape...

Upon returning from Brazil I decided to paint the hills of Iracambi

At this time all I had to paint in was an old basement.

But, you work with what you are given

Saudades de Iracambi

and finished the piece...

Chicago

I lived for a summer in Chicago and took this classy selfie of myself on a rooftop

Master in Landscape Architecture

After three years of study I graduated with my Master in Landscape Architecure...

Master in Landscape Architecture

...and recieved that sweet deploma

Off to California

After receiving my degree I got a job working for the Landscape Architecture firm RHAA in San Francisco, so I headed off to the airport, seeking a new place and a new adventure...

San Francisco

I arrived in San Fancisco and took a Post Card worthy picture....

California

I climbed up mountains...

Trekked along the Ocean

went to Yosemite

drove to Oregon...

Saw otters...

Saw an Elk....

Painting

And after getting settled here I am....back to painting...my work grows out of exploration and experiencing places, in doing this a portfolio of work often emerges out of my study....so I am back to my roots exploring this new place through plein air painting...

I paint on this rock...

I paint on this rock....

I paint by the Bay...

I paint in the northern mountains...

but mostly...I have been painting by the ocean, attempting to understand and capture a piece of its power...

Sometimes I get caught in the rain...

or caught in the dark...

sometimes my painting falls over...

but I pick it up and keep going....

The Adventure Awaits

and now my trunk is packed, I am ready to head out and paint, let's see where I go next....

Exhibitions

Upcoming: Nature’s Architecture: Kevin Box & Nathanael Gray, Kay Contemporary, Sep 22-Oct 5 2023
From the Delta to the Sea, Solo Exhibit, Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA 2022
One Day, Smythe Mckee, Solo Exhibit, Virtual, 2021
I Only Went Out for a Walk, Solo Exhibit, Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA 2021
A Year in Tahoe, Solo Exhibit, Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA 2020
Poems of Place, Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2018
40&Under, Elliott Fouts Gallery, Sacramento, CA 2018
Bold Expressions, Juried Exhibit, Sacramento, CA 2017
Borders and Beyond, Group Exhibit, Wabash, IN 2013
9 County Art Show, Juried Exhibit, Wabash, IN 2012
Monuments, Solo Exhibit, Elephant Room Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010
Wesleyan National Headquarters, Solo Exhibit, Noblesville, IN 2009
Columbia Club, Solo Exhibit, Indianapolis IN 2008 Columbia Club,
Columbia Club, Solo Exhibit, Indianapolis IN 2006
Indiana Heritage Arts, Juried Exhibit, Nashville, IN 2004

Education:
- Master of Landscape Architecture, Ball State University, 2015
- B.S. Painting, Indiana Wesleyan University, 2009
- B.S. Theater, Indiana Wesleyan University, 2009

BIOGROPHICAL DETAILS

Name: Nathanael Gray

Born: Anderson, IN
Married to Megan Gray
Parents: Mike and Kathy Gray
Mentors: David Slonim; Rod Crossman, MFA
Current Location: Richmond, California

bio

my story

Exhibitions

BIOGROPHICAL DETAILS