During Guy's youth, the Stevens family traveled extensively throughout the United States. These travels stimulated the creative process of the young artist. During his teenage years his grandfather recognized real potential and funded private lessons from Robert Bruns. After years of private lessons the artist enrolled at Furman University and pursued a degree in the fine arts, developing under the tutelage of Tom Flowers and Glenn Howerton. When Guy graduated Furman in 1970, there were no professional artist in the area who relied entirely on art for their income. | ![]() |
As a full time painter Stevens broke new ground. He traveled over a three state area, selling to galleries and interior design shops. During 1972 the artist exhibited at the Greenville County Museum of Art in a show entitled "Four Young Painters." Even at this early stage, the essentials of his individual process had begun to emerge. In his first major series titled Tree of Life, Stevens perfected a very refined style by layering the paint. This very polished technique was dramatically transformed by his first tour of Mexico, at which time his colors grew bright and festive. He produced 61 pastels and oils and sold every one of them. | |
![]() | In the Lake Keowee Series, which spanned over a three year period, he produced some 60 oils and discovered a personal connection to post expressionism. His brush stroke became distinctive and he had truely found himself as a painter. The artist painted in Mexico, Bermuda, and New York City for extended periods during the eighties and in San Francisco in 1991. In 1997, with his 3 year old son Nathan in tow, Guy undertook a 5,000-mile painting tour of the east coast of the United States and Canada. |
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With each series his color harmonized and took on a deeper glow. Through the eighties and nineties his composition evolved and grew more abstract. Then in the late nineties, the artist underwent a major transformation which he describes as a rebirth. This transformation occurred in 1998 during his first European tour. The artist logged more than 10,000 miles through eight countries and completed forty paintings in forty-nine days. Since 1998 Guy has returned to paint in Europe almost every year. Other tours have taken him to Jamaica, the Hawaiian Islands twice, and several locations within the United States. Over the last 38 years Guy has held over 100 one-man shows, and exhibited his work throughout the United States. Museum exhibits include The Greenville County Museum of Art, Pickens County Museum, Clemson University, Furman University, and in 2006 a one-man-show at the Spartanburg County Museum of Art. | |
In 1999, Guy’s wife, Catherine joined the business and began developing a line of prints and hand painted frames. They now offer a wide variety of frames, offset lithographs and giclées printed on high quality archival substrates. Julien, their middle son joined the family business and designed their first web site in 1999. In the fall of 2004 after graduating from University of Hawaii, Julien began developing a new site that exhibits and sells Guy's artwork online. In 2008 the Guy Stevens Art Studio launched the third generation of the website, and simultaneously Guy Stevens published his first book entitled The Paintings of Guy Stevens with Memoirs and Poems. | ![]() |
The Stevens Art Business contributes greatly to the Greenville community and its art scene. Guy has presented workshops, classes, and lectures for the County Schools, Senior Action Center, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville Tech, Liberty Corporation, etc... The Stevens family has also made countless donations to fundraising efforts by local non-profits, community based organizations, and educational institutions. Guy has also mounted and conducted hundreds of exhibits, newspaper, TV and radio interviews at home and abroad while constantly encouraging others to develop and exercise their talents in the arts. Today Guy looks forward to sharing encouragement among the growing arts community throughout Greenville, and the state of South Carolina. | |