5 minute read
MADE IN CORONADO
Taking off
Navy pilot renders engineering degrees into precision-painted fine art
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By CATHERINE GAUGH
The first painting by Matthew DeGree that pops up on his online portfolio is a beach scene. The natural curl of the waves crashing on the sand in the early morning light is precise and so detailed, you can almost smell the salt air and feel the chilly water.
The next piece is a pair of VA-195 bomber jets soaring over Hwacheon Dam in South Korea. There are more flight scenes, as well as landscapes and seascapes featuring sailboats, children romping on a beach, trees, birds and dogs, all glimpses of memorable life moments, captured in oils and watercolors.
DeGree, a lieutenant commander and Navy pilot, first picked up a paintbrush in 2013, while stationed in Lemoore in central California, where he flew six days and had one day off every week. Tired of filling his free time with reading and watching TV, he decided to learn how to paint.
“I read articles online about how to paint with oils and got a bunch of canvases. I painted all day on my one day off. Now I paint five days a week, usually after we put the kids to bed,” said the father of two small children.
MATTHEW DeGREE
Matthew DeGree, a Navy pilot who has two engineering degrees, applies the exacting principles of engineering to his art, which he calls structured. DeGree’s paintings range from beach scenes to Navy fighter jets
MATTHEW DeGREE
Q: I see preciseness in your work. How would you describe your art?
A: I think of my art as structured. I have engineering degrees [U.S. Naval Academy and Stanford University]. My paintings are highly detailed. I want them to look as real as possible but still look like paintings. Everything must be accurate, the right sizes, angles and dimensions.
Q: What inspires you?
A: My muse is the beach. I love to see it every day. The ocean is my favorite subject, and I like to capture all the colors. I love the beachy colors, like creams and blues. I love learning how to make the right colors, like how to get that slate gray color of the ocean on a foggy day.
Q: Your Instagram account (@mattdegreefineart) has an amazing variety of subjects.
A: Nine out of 10 paintings are commissions. They come from friends, family members and the military community. Military families commission paintings as a gift at retirement or change in command. They might want a painting of a house they lived in or a ship or plane.
Whatever they want me to paint, I go for it. Accepting everything I think is making me a better artist.
Q: How long does it take to complete a commission painting?
A: A simple painting might take 10 hours to do. More detailed work might take 60-plus hours. A recent project took me two solid months.
For a while, I told people I don’t do portraits, but I do now and want to do more of them. For the dog portraits, I focus on the eyes; I make the dog look happy or thoughtful. It is fun to paint fur.
Most people tell me what they want in the painting and the colors they like. One friend though, said she wanted a painting representing Colorado, a favorite vacation spot, for her dining room, but said I should paint whatever I wanted, and that she did not want to see it until it was on hanging on the wall. That was nerve-wracking. Luckily, I was familiar with colors in her dining room.
Q: I heard that you were given a commission from your wife for a painting to match some new blue pillows she bought.
A: The blue pillows? That did happen. My wife, Ashley, is a marketing professional, but she really should be an interior designer; she is so good at it. She is very
MATTHEW DeGREE PHOTOS “My muse is the beach,” said Matthew DeGree, who started painting in 2013. Ninety percent of his work is commissioned, often from people in the military community.
MATTHEW DeGREE “Low Flying Aircraft” is a commissioned piece painted with oil and set in Fallon, Nevada.
particular about what goes on the walls. If we have an empty wall, she’ll say, ‘Matt, I need a painting this size and with these colors.’
For my first Coronado Wine and Art festival, I wanted my tent to be full, so I started pulling a lot of paintings from our walls. I took down the one I did for our dining room [Coronado Beach looking out to Point Loma in a floating frame]. It didn’t have as much detail as most of my work; I used a palette knife to smear the paint. After I took it off the wall, my wife said, ‘Wait, I don’t want to sell this one.’
We agreed we did not want to sell it, so we set a price so high that no one would buy it. But someone did buy it. So, my wife says, ‘Matt, you know you are going to do that one again.’
Q: I understand you were born in Coronado.
A: Yes, my dad was Navy, too, so we left when I was about 2, but everywhere he was stationed was next to a beach. My wife and I were in Coronado in 2015 for a few years and loved it. Then I was deployed to Annapolis to teach at the Naval Academy. That was supposed to last seven years, but we asked to go back to Coronado early.
At the end of this tour in 2025, I’m going to retire here. Coronado is a place that feels like home.
We love the beach, the great people and the great weather. We spend most of our time outdoors, and we are on the beach four or five days a week.
Q: Has being an artist changed you?
A: Art has changed me. I am a more passionate person. And I see the world differently. ■
Catherine Gaugh is a freelance writer.
