Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Geisler.
Greg, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I moved to Austin in 1981 after spending my formative years in the Midwest. From the time I was a child I was fascinated with art and I began drawing at an early age. I attended college for a few years studying drawing and art history. In the ’80s in Austin, I did carpentry and handyman work to support my family while pursuing my art on the side. I dabbled in drawing, painting, sculpture, and video. Near the end of the decade, I was exposed to computer graphics and desktop publishing and became hooked. I had no previous interest or experience with computers but I had a knack for the technology and found ways to integrate my artistic sensibilities into it. I began doing any work I could find for free to gain experience and develop a portfolio. I had some friends in bands and designed posters, album covers, handbills, etc. some of them for King Coffey’s Trance record label. I got my foot in the door running a small computer graphics lab downtown and continued to ride the wave of desktop publishing technology as it evolved. Mid-’90s I was hired by a large textbook publishing company ultimately becoming a director and building an art/technology department from scratch. I left the company in 1998 to pursue a freelance career and dive into the World Wide Web.
Since then, I have worked in virtually every creative medium doing graphic design, illustration, animation, web design and development. I worked as an animator on Rick Linklater’s film A Scanner Darkly and subsequently on animated shorts (The Even More Fun Trip) and web serials (Get Your War On, Codefellas) with Flat Black Films. In recent years I worked as an animator on the Adult Swim comedy Dreamcorp LLC. For about a decade I have had an Etsy shop (woundedwood) where I sell art/craft from reclaimed wood. Most of my sales are for my custom wood burned pet portraits. It’s a way that I can be creative away from the computer which is important for me after thirty years sitting behind one. And I continue to pursue my own personal art. I have several years of digital drawings (The Gulag Series) which can be found on my website. And during the COVID downtime, I started on a series of sculptures that have been in my head for a decade or so. They center around the themes of the Anthropocene, carbon, technology, climate change.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been a rocky road! I took the path less traveled to arrive where I am but I am grateful for the experience. I struggled economically and was for a time a single parent. I had to do a good amount of free or low-pay work to get my foot into the door of the industry. But my passion and persistence ultimately paid off. I’m grateful for every opportunity and obstacle along the way.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have worked with young people over the years in various creative capacities and it is something that I find rewarding but also inspiring. In the ’80s I did a stint for Austin Parks and Recreation in their after school programs where I would teach arts & crafts to elementary-age students. I worked with a startup after school program where I had a booth where kids could design their own T-shirt on a graphic tablet and we printed them out on transfer paper and pressed them onto the shirts for instant gratification. It was a big hit. In 2006 I worked with a dozen middle school students through an organization called Citizen Schools. For a semester in their after school program, I conducted a graphic design class in their computer lab. I raised money to purchase drawing tablets for the lab and taught them how to use the software and graphic design principles. They designed their own mascots and we printed them onto T-shirts.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Persistence, hard work, professionalism, empathy, mindfulness, and a little luck can result in a good outcome.
Contact Info:
- Email: greg@raytracer.com
- Website: https://raytracer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manray57/
Image Credits:
Personal Photo © William Geisler
