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Gerald Boyd is a representational artist who works in a variety of media including oil, pastel and watercolor. He was born in a small Ohio town in 1942 but migrated with his parents to the West Coast at the end of WWII. Raised in Oregon and Southern California, he and his family lived in Fremont, California for over 30 years. Nearing retirement, Gerald and his wife Sandra have recently moved to a home in the little town of Galt, California. He is building a new studio and will soon devote his full time to painting. "Creating art has been a goal of mine since early childhood. Among my heroes have been the early illustrators such as N.C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, and Andrew Loomis. Later, I came to admire the work of John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla and Anders Zorn. What all of these artists had in common was an amazing facility with composition and the human figure. Although I've explored a wide variety of subject matter, my paintings seem to inevitably come back to the human experience. I enjoy doing portraits, figures, and character studies and I find that even a landscape seems more alive if there are people within the composition. I won my first major art award at the age of 14 with a pencil portrait of my grandfather. That initial recognition would encourage me and spark my interest to pursue a career in art." After graduating from high school in Southern California, Gerald was hired as an apprentice pictorial artist at Foster and Kleiser Outdoor Advertising Company. He would spend the next five years studying, at night, with a prominent West Coast artist and teacher, Theodore Lukits (1897-1992). After becoming a journeyman in his trade, Gerald moved, with his wife Sandi and children, to Santa Cruz, California where he attended Bethany Bible College for one year. During that year (1969), in addition to his studies, he was able to paint on a regular basis and supplement his income by selling paintings in a local gift shop. He resumed his career in commercial art in 1970. Gerald is among the last of several generations of artists who made their living painting giant outdoor advertisements until technology rendered that craft virtually extinct. During the decade of the 1970’s Gerald was busy working and raising a family but he painted when he could. By the early 1980’s he decided it was time to get more serious about his art career. He realized that becoming involved in art organizations and entering paintings in competitive shows were good ways to become connected to the art community and so he pursued both with vigor. Gerald served a term as President of the Fremont Art Association in 1982 and repeated the post in 1992. Along the way he twice won "Artist of the Year" honors. His show entries soon became consistent award winners and he has had a high ratio of awards won to shows entered ever since. As time has allowed, he has taught classes and portrait workshops in Fremont and nearby communities. Since 1983 he has demonstrated painting technique to art clubs in Northern California and has given, in excess of, an estimated 70 performances to date. He enjoys serving as juror for art competitions and his growing reputation as a knowledgeable judge has provided him many opportunities to do so, including the Society of Western Artists 51st Annual Show, the 2000 Motherlode International Art Exhibition, The Contra Costa County Fair and a four time juror for the Alameda County Fair. In 2006, he was awarded Best of Show in both the Society of Western Artists Annual Show and the Pastel Society of the West Coast Annual Show, a rare achievment! Being an accomplished artist does not prevent him from continuing his own study by taking classes and workshops with such nationally known artists as Bob Gerbracht, Margaret Kessler, and Daniel Green. "As every artist knows, study is an on-going, life-long process." He has been honored with "Signature Memberships" in both the Society of Western Artists and the Pastel Society of the West Coast. His paintings are in private collections throughout the United States.
	Autumn Sycamore	Return to Harbor	Peaches & Violets
	Hearts	Mother and Child in Surf	Yellow Kimono

Visit Gerald's website at www.geraldboyd.com

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