Spencer Pearson Spotlight

Spencer Pearson

Written by Nor Osborne, April 2025

To Spencer Pearson, art is so much more than a fun project. It's a powerful means of expression. 

“In a world that's so chaotic, art is the medium in which we can express ourselves,” he says. “It's a way to expand our minds, a way to communicate our real feelings in a much more visceral way.” 

The Granville based painter finds that art is the vehicle in which he can elicit the most heartfelt and genuine reactions from those around him. 

“You can sit and talk with people about anything, but it's only when you bring up art that you see their inner child come out. That's powerful to me. We’re all kids trapped in [adulthood].”  

Spencer is one of the three collaborators that operate The Front Porch Guild. He prefers to leave the walls of the studio behind, painting his scenes outdoors with acrylic, oil, and watercolor paints. 

Spencer began painting at 12 years old. A farm boy in northern Georgia, he would take breaks from harvesting berries and herding cattle to paint. Fueled by practicality, Spencer left his love of art for a career in healthcare, working as an ICU nurse and then a medical administrator in the Columbus area. 

“But the art never left. It's always been in me. It's what I’ve wanted for so long.” 

Encouraged by his family, Spencer returned to his easel in his mid 30s. He took a painting class with Granville painter Paul Hamilton. A few months later, Spencer had a show at the Granville co-op art gallery ‘Art at 43023’. It was at that show he realized that a career in art could actually be a possibility. 

“After I sold a handful of paintings, I thought hey, maybe I can make some money at this. I was able to do the healthcare thing part time for a few years, and now I’ve been painting full time for almost four years.” 

“Working in healthcare, in a sense, was a big motivator for my art. It makes me want to make sure I do everything I can to stay painting and not go back to healthcare,” Spencer jokes.  

More so than healthcare, Spencer is inspired by the unnoticed. While many artists focus on grand and beautiful spectacles, Spencer Pearson prefers to paint the more rusty, unassuming view.  From alleys to jagged bricks, from power lines to dumpsters, Spencer finds the beauty in the unnoticed. 

“I don’t paint the facades, they’re just not as interesting to me. So a lot of times, I’ll go around the corner, paint the back alleys behind them,” Spencer says. “I chase shapes and shadows and light, and that usually is captured through the more unassuming visuals.”

Spencer also finds much artistic joy in his rural upbringing, drawn to painting outdoor scenes in wide strokes. 

“It influences my heart. Growing up on that farm, I would run in the woods all day, play in the creeks. That's where I’m grounded,” Spencer says. “Even when I’ve lived in the city, I always find myself looking at photos of the barns and the creeks. It reminds me of time with my dad and brothers.”

Now settled in Granville, a town that's not quite rural and not quite the city, Spencer has found the best of both worlds. 

“Granville is a great town. It’s awesome not just to be able to do art here, but to be able to collaborate with all of these other artists. It makes me feel like I'm a part of this,” Spencer says. “I love the town where I grew up but, sometimes you don’t always get that free thinking, that openness to the arts that I’ve found here.” 

It's in Granville that Spencer is able to have the most genuine conversations about art, bringing out the inner child of those around him. 

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