''My life at times, seems like a movie...I am always at the edge of my seat, never knowing quite what to expect.  I do believe though, you must follow what is truly in your heart!  No matter how difficult or down you get.  Never give up on your dreams.  I am so fortunate, becasue my family has always been there for me: Lyndsy, Layla, Vanessa and the newest edition, my son Anthony.''  Jerry Georgeff



Jerry Georgeff was born a coal miner's son in the hills of southern West Virginia in 1948. Six years later, facing hard times, Georgeff's father moved the family to Dayton, OH to work in the auto factories. Georgeff's childhood in this American working class environment provided little of what would serve for the foundation of an impressionist painter. A grade school trip to the Dayton Art Museum proved to be enough to spark Georgeff's love and imagination, however. On that day he developed a great interest in impressionist masters, especially Renoir and Monet. Except for an occasional drawing or painting in junior high school, Georgeff's will to paint would not surface for nearly three decades.



During adolescence his parents supported him in typical American ways: they praised him for his good grades in school and for his athletic skills on the football field. His parents wanted him to go college and they were more willing to help him financially, but a study in the arts was not what they had in mind. Eventually Georgeff dropped out of college and was drafted into the Army. While stationed in Europe he visited the great museums of art and southern France. It wasn't until the age of 34, after a 12 year stint in New Mexico and an attempt at a broadcasting career, that Georgeff seriously pick up the brushes. The fire of his passion and natural talent engulfed him and after only six months of painting Georgeff made the most daring and fulfilling decision of his life: he walked away from the stability of a 15 year career to become a professional painter.



The early years took their toll. The long hours in the studio, traveling to shows and the constant pressure to make it financially broke up his family. From the mid-1980's to the early 1990's he continued to struggle but his passion was inextinguishable. Eventually Georgeff gave up painting the America Southwest for the scenes that first inspired him -- Southern France. Soon cafes, water lilies, the French countryside and quaint villages flowed onto Georgeff's canvases. His confident brush strokes and ease with handling light and color insured that his paintings were highly sought after by both galleries and collectors.