Aritst Biography - Greg Auchard
As a young man, Greg loved spending as much time as possible out of doors, immersing himself in the natural world. He spent many years experiencing both its warmth and it’s cold harshness. And as a result, developed a unique blend of wonder, love, awe, and respect for nature. Mother Nature taught him respect for all life and sometimes taught in not so gentle ways. Suffering seemed to be pervasive in the natural world and Mother Nature taught him harsh lessons.
But, by forcing him to learn and move into areas which were uncomfortable for him, Greg came to realize that she was a much more caring mother than he had initially believed. She blessed him with greater insight into not only his own capabilities but also with a much deeper understanding of the spirit in life. Mother Nature required adherence to her natural laws of economics. By doing so she showed him his fate was determined more by his understanding of natural cycles than by external events. In this natural world Greg came to realize that success in any endeavor is found by blending with obstacles. Even though blending is often initially unpleasant he learned that rewards are usually directly proportional to the discomfort of change. The way an atom reaches a higher energy level is through the introduction of a violent energy and all things remain static unless acted upon. His art reflects his love of natural forms and the way the synergistic sharing of energy elicits greater beauty and the way that opposite forces amplify each other to produce a new evolution.
The natural cycles of life gradually took him away from his initial closeness with nature and as a result he faced a crisis in adulthood. Greg returned to the only place he truly felt comfortable and spent three years living in a tipi trying to piece together the remnants of his ego and struggling to find a philosophy to live by which worked in the modern world, as well as in the natural world. The solitude of his “home in the woods” brought him to conclude that as much as we would like to deny it - the modern world is only an extension of the natural world, society still operates within the same constraints that it has been since the dawn of time, only those constraints are less perceptible now. Each human carries within him or her a subtle knowledge of ancestral instincts that continue to direct our behavior. He believes these instincts are linked to imagery and symbolism and that our life decisions are more rooted in the subconscious than most of us are aware.
“Today we are able to ignore some of the principles and characteristics that made the human race so successful in more primitive times. Humans today can afford to be more ignorant of simple thought processes for self-preservation that we never could have when survival was the primal “raisin d’etre” for us. We can get into our cars in the dead of winter without bringing a coat or hat knowing that the heater will comfort us shortly and if we get stranded help is only a phone call away.
But something is lost when our daily struggle is with things that are unnatural. Our daily stressors have become less life threatening but just as consuming. As we continue to ignore natural principles and hide our true selves we cause suffering to ourselves and also to every other living thing. We begin to wear masks of who we are “supposed” to be and don’t allow the person we truly are to shine. The Intelligence that created the universe has created each living thing to fill a space and contribute in its own unique way. By realizing that we are all one organism and that each of us has a role in the preservation of that organism we can begin to see the value in our existence.
All things must live in communion and to ask for something without first giving something is not only selfish but also foolish because we are only keeping from ourselves in the big picture. By giving away part of ourselves, the part that is the true inner light of who we are, we gain a greater reward where it counts, spiritually, and for some reason that must be hard wired into the human brain we feel stronger and more capable of continuing the daily struggle against hardships that are inevitable in life as well as naturally making choices which are for the greater good of the planet. Our species has evolved reactions to the rhythms of Earth and we can sense the right action when it is needed if we allow our instincts to act as a guide.
All of us, as humans, share a common thread of awareness regarding symbols and their meanings. Each of our ancestors struggled with life and death and I believe that at our very core implanted within our genetic code we have a programmed response toward symbols and mythology. Symbols have been the means which humans have used to convey multiple, complex, messages to one another for centuries and although diluted the messages are still solidly embedded within our subconscious. I try to unleash the subconscious desires, fears, hopes, needs, impulses, and dreams of my viewers with the forms I create so that they can become more aware of the deeper process that infuses life.”
Through blacksmithing, Greg continues to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for the yin and yang that works in our world. He tries not to see opposites but to seek out the dynamic relationships between opposites and allow them to play together in the art that he creates.
“Ironwork allows me to struggle with very real dangers to my life and my limbs, like fire and power, and at the end of the day see something of beauty wrought from the toil of my own hands. The interplay of real danger and hard work is rewarding to me both physically and spiritually. It helps to awaken the dragons within me as well as exercising the analytical part of my mind. As a result, I can sleep very well at night knowing that I have vanquished my dragons for the day and feel new excitement at the thought of new dragons to be slain tomorrow.”
Artist Blacksmith - Greg Auchard and Family
Greg and his wife Sarah run Great Circle Forge and spend as much time as possible with their three children Nicholas, Audrey, and Amelia, their cats, Smokey, and M&M, dogs, Sasha and Gunner, and horses, Bo, and Sabre.