I have been a professional oil painter for thirty-five years. Currently living just outside of Nashville TN, my early influences were European and African. I was raised in Congo (Belgian Congo/Africa) and that still shows through in my work.

I hold two MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degrees, from Cranbrook Academy of Art (MI) and from the New York Academy of Art (NYC). I have studied with Leland Bell, Fairfield Porter, John Moore, Vincent Desiderio and Martha Erlebacher, and was recommended by Jack Levine and George Tooker to spend two seasons painting at The MacDowell Colony (NH).

I spent twelve years in Philadelphia, then twelve years in New York City, where I taught at both MoMA and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a Visual Teaching Artist through Lincoln Center Institute. I am at home lecturing in museums and galleries, and during this time spent valuable time in Europe (UK, France, Italy) painting, and studying major collections. One series of twenty drawings was completed in two weeks in a hotel room in Rome, and I spent much time painting in Brittany. Currently am planning to be in France, teaching in Valmondois (outside of Paris) with Amelie de Gaulle's "France With Friends" cultural immersion adventure.

Teaching my own series of workshops in painting, I moved to Nashville (TN) and to Asheville (NC) for a total of eight years, during which time I began sculpting (figure/clay), produced etchings and woodcuts. I immersed myself in literature and poetry, and this continues to deeply influence my work. After five years in New Mexico, where I produced my 'frieze' paintings, I returned to Nashville to stay, choosing a studio outside of town, where the landscape is a constant source of inspiration.

I continue to paint prolifically, read profusely, write sporadically and enjoy music continually: mostly choral, solo piano, hard soul, early psychedelia, obscure and inimitable garage music.

- Greg Decker (grateful to my friends and family for their love and support all these years)