Gary Weiss was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia at a place and time when a boy and his dog felt comfortable roaming and exploring the acres of woods and streams backing up to his neighborhood. Before the days of malls and McMansions, Gary and his buddies would hike for miles following creek beds and floodplains. During his Georgia State years, Gary canoed and kayaked the Ocoee, the Chattooga and many other southern waterways, learning to “read” the water flow and navigate rapids with names like “Bull Sluice” and “Edge of the World.”  

In his mid-20’s, Gary strapped his kayak to the top of his Toyota, drove across the Mississippi and through the desert to Los Angeles, to study Illustration at Art Center College of Design. While in school, Gary spent weekends exploring western rivers and national parks. Four years later he strapped his kayak back onto the Toyota, returning to the South with a diploma and a new California wife.

For the next 25 years, Gary raised his two sons, freelanced and taught classes at Portfolio Center in Atlanta, serving the last 13 years as Illustration Department Chair. During this time, Gary found it a natural transition to combine his two lifetime passions of art and the outdoors through plein-air and landscape painting. Gary continues to paint, draw and teach in the Atlanta art community, and his paintings are shown in galleries in Georgia and North Carolina.