HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — Gary Simon has spent his life crafting beauty.
He started with fine details of jewelry, and now he works with bold strokes of paint on canvas.
Simon, a longtime jeweler in High Point, has also built a second career as an artist, blending his love for color, light and emotion into vivid works that reflect both his imagination and his surroundings.
“I keep trying to find a direction,” Simon said. “I paint surreal, pop or realistic impressionism. I just love creating.”
His passion for art began as a young boy, watching his father work on paint-by-number kits on quiet Sunday mornings.
“Eventually, he let me start dabbling,” Simon said. “That’s really when it started growing through the seasons of my life.”
Simon later studied art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he honed his craft and found new ways to express himself. Today, his paintings range from vivid landscapes to striking abstracts, and they are all bursting with color and life.
“Black and dark colors absorb energy,” Simon said. “Bright colors and white reflect. That’s the beauty I want to capture.”
Many of his pieces are inspired by local scenery, including one he painted in Madison. Another, featuring bold layers of color and movement, he donated to the Carolina Core to support its youth soccer program.
When he’s not at the jewelry bench or behind a canvas, Simon said painting offers him peace.
“The best part of painting is that I’m not thinking about anything else,” he said. “I’m in the moment.”
For Simon, jewelry and painting are about connection.
“If somebody looks at a painting and says, ‘That’s one of Gary’s,’ that’s my goal,” he said.
You can find more of his work on social media or online at GarySimonCi.com.
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