Barry Gregg

Atlanta artist Barry Gregg handbuilds animals out of clay – dogs, bears, fish, birds and more – that have an air of mischief about them. Like the late children’s book illustrator Richard Scarry, Barry’s critters are characters with strikingly human-style foibles and personalities.

“I try to tell a story with my work,” the artist says. “My story may not be the story that the viewer takes away. That’s OK. Despite my initial aversion to the word ‘whimsical’ being used to describe my work, I now embrace it. Nothing fulfills me more than the comment, ‘Your work makes me happy.’”

Born in Dunedin, Florida, in 1960, Barry says he’s always considered himself an artist in some form or fashion. “As a child, I was always drawn to the arts and was creative. Always curious about the process of making art.”

He earned both fine art and graphic design degrees, applying the latter in a career for 20-plus years. Then, as a graphic designer for BellSouth in the early 1990s, he took a hand-building class at Atlanta’s Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, which has helped train hundreds of talented potters since opening in 1972.

Like many of those potters, Barry “became hooked on the transition from beginning to the finished piece. Each decision, whether large or small, determines the final product. The surprise element [of how a piece comes out of the kiln] certainly sparked my interest.”

That spark became a flame, leading the graphic artist to contemplate a career change. He wasn’t, however, sure how to proceed.  “So, in 2007, I left my freelance graphic design business and began trying to figure it out,” Barry recounts. “It was a giant leap of faith, but one that I felt I had to attempt.”

Looking back, he credits his late dog Parker for helping make his transition to full-time artmaking a success.  Around the time that Barry was making his career switch, Parker was diagnosed with bone cancer and had to have a leg amputated.   He says Parker’s “unbridled enthusiasm and loyalty” inspired him at would have otherwise been a difficult time.  The lessons he took from his pet included: “Remain loyal.  Growl only when growled at.  Let unimportant–and sometimes important–things go.  Bark less and wag more.”

Barry says he has applied those lessons to his work and his life in general.  “Dogs, he add, “have been a constant in my work ever since.”