The Artist

The Artist
I normally sign my art “ZESZOTARSKI.” I feel that putting my first name “Gregory,” in front of this last name would be too much. I always think that “Zeszotarski” just sitting there at the bottom of a picture (usually lower left) gives a feeling of mastery; i.e., “He owns an original Zeszotarski.” Besides, Degas, probably the greatest pastelist of all time, just signed his work “Degas.” One name is enough.

I have been making art for as long as I can remember. My mother taught me the fundamentals of drawing. At an early age she taught me a light touch with the pencil as opposed to the death grip my peers would employ as they engraved the subject upon the Manila paper. In school, I loved art, but my parents, being practical people, were hard pressed to encourage their offspring to enter the arts. It was a fine pastime, but you were destined to a life of poverty, probably alcoholism and most likely an early demise in the pursuit of a life devoted to the arts. For the most part I felt they were right, living in a coldwater flat over a pool hall was not something I wanted to aspire to. So, I became an engineer spent the better part of my life designing things that were of limited use, with an incredibly short life span; however, it did pay the bills. But I kept drawing and painting, and took some classes and learned, and made art whenever I could. I accumulated a nice library of art books and from these, I have also learned. So here I am today, in my tiny studio that is crammed with all manner of art materials. The sounds are of public radio, or classical music, the smells are of paper, canvas, paint, and of course coffee. Here I exist in my little part of heaven.

Why Cowguy?

Why you might ask do you use the name "Cow Guy?" As an artist I have been creating cow art for a number of years. My wife and I participate in outdoor art shows and often as fair goers approach our booth you hear such remarks as "Here's the Cow Guy's booth," or "The Cow Guy is over here." We sell small 5x7 inch prints of my cow creations and they have become a collectable item for many people. The lovely fellow in the picture is an example of my work. We also have a cow couple in the basket of a hot air balloon, "Just the Two of Us," then there is "Born to be Wild" a cow with motorcycle sunglasses, and "The Four Seasons," Jimmy and Margarita (on the beach with drinks with little umbrellas), "Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy," (our Christmas cow), "Sweetie Pie and Cool Dude" (the loving couple), "The Beach Boys," (standing in shallow water, yellow COWABUNGA surf board stuck in the sand between them all wearing outrageous sunglasses) these and many more. Then of course there was the full size fiberglass cow for the 2006 Wisconsin CowParade (presently residing in the National Dairy Shrine in Fort Atkinson, Wi and most recently a bench with a cow theme for a local 150 years of being a town celebration. Yes, cows are definitely us.