Portrait of An Artist: Greg Sobran

By M. Leth-Soerensen
Sun staff writer
Entering the Sobran gallery on the west side of Glen Arbor one is offered a feast for the eye. There one comes face to face with impressionistic paintings of local scenery marked by their brilliant colors. Tropical Key West and images from France and Italy also adorn the walls or are found stacked on a table. Greg has done mostly watercolors over the years but has ventured more into oil painting lately. His new gallery opened in Glen Arbor this past spring as Greg and his wife Wanda decided to lease their own space from Ruth Conklin, who operates the gallery next door.

Twelve years ago local painter Suzanne Wilson peeked in the windows of an old rusty station wagon parked outside Art’s Tavern. She had seen the traces of a serious painter: the color block, multiple brushes and the palette. Suzanne spotted the Sobrans and their meeting led to an invitation from the Lake Street Studios for Greg to exhibit his artwork at the popular venue across the street from what’s now Cherry Republic the following summer. This first show produced many sales and he has painted in the Glen Lake area ever since. Greg’s interpretations of landscapes and buildings now grace many homes and businesses in the area as well as all over the world.
Greg Sobran is a ruggedly handsome man in his forties who spent his childhood summers on Torch Lake in a family cottage overlooking Northport. His first memories of this area are as a 10-year-old visiting the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with his aunt who took him along in a rented red and white Oldsmobile convertible. Ever since he was a boy he has longed for the outdoors, for adventure and travel, especially since the classroom always bored him. Labor Day was a painful day in the calendar because it meant giving up his freedom of exploration. At a young age Greg was fascinated by buildings and landscapes and had the artist’s eye for details. After growing up in Ann Arbor he attended Eastern Michigan University where he studied Fine Arts. Only recently did he realize that he was, in fact, awarded a Bachelor of Arts from the EMU. After college Greg pursued a career as a graphic artist. Years later he and Wanda felt the constraints of the job and craved independence. So, after a short stint as a carpenter, he pursued the freelance life of an artist. Greg and Wanda bought and restored an old school house in Ann Arbor for their home base. But their urge to travel with his canvasses and Wanda’s engaging personality paved the way for a gypsy life style that could fill the pages of a colorful book. They fell in love with Horton Bay in Charlvoix County and spent their last $75 there. So Wanda found work at a general store that resembles Omena’s Tamarack Gallery, and they traded his paintings for gas and lodging. While reminiscing further about their adventures, Wanda flips through pages of an international magazine and gazes at photos of the chateaux where they stayed in southern France.
Greg pours us a glass of Bordeaux wine while we visit in the welcome gallery. Away from the display I spot a portrait of a local teenager – a lovely young woman who Greg captured well. He also does consignment pieces like this and has painted portraits in the style of John Singer Sargent during his travels. Painters that have inspired him along the way include Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper and the French impressionists. Unlike many artists, Greg does not travel to art fairs, he does not teach painting classes and he does not sell prints of original works. To support the local scene, Greg supplied the artwork for the 1999 Glen Arbor Art Association Manitou Music Festival poster. This was one of the most popular posters the annual series ever produced, and it is no longer available in this area. Besides the Sobran gallery Greg’s original art displays can be found in galleries such as The Ward Gallery in Harbor Springs and in Raleigh, North Carolina.