“The part of Montana that really means something is the community, like the one that I have, where people know each other and help you if you need it,” pencil artist Don Greytak recounts. “Years ago I was out on my parents’ place taking care of the cattle and my arm was smashed in an incident with a cow.” Unable to reach friends or family for help, Greytak called an acquaintance who arrived immediately and drove him to Havre. “I ended up in the hospital, and he came and checked in on me (even though we were not close). There’s always somebody you can count on.” That’s the essence of Montana communities, Greytak affirms.
This essence is what he captures in his art. Inspiration for his drawings comes from farms, ranches, his life experiences, women, children, and those in his community who have been important to him.
Ultimately, Greytak’s goal is to connect people to their personal stories. “If I draw a tractor, I don’t want to draw just a tractor,” he explains. “The tractor’s got to be doing something that people can relate to. I just finished a drawing of a mother holding a baby and a young girl looking out the window, then there’s an older boy and a younger boy dragging a Christmas tree toward her. There are several things to draw people into the piece: The mother and baby, the fact that it’s Christmas, and the kids doing something. This way there’s a story.”
But the artist wasn’t always focused on storytelling through art.
“I was looking for what was important in my life, which I never seemed to find until I started art,” he recalls. Before drawing, Greytak ranched, flew airplanes, attended airplane mechanic school, did aerial photography, and worked as an automobile mechanic.
Eventually, he built horse trailers and opened a welding shop. However, customers continually requested the same types of trailers, so Don lost motivation. “There was no creativity in it anymore, and soon it was a job, and who wants a job?” he laughs. “I talked my brother into taking over the welding job, and I went into art and started over again.”
Greytak welded steel sculptures for a year or more before attending an art show in Spokane where he came across a pencil artist. “I remember (thinking), I ought to try that. So on the way home, I bought a pencil and paper in Missoula. That’s how I started.”
Greytak attributes his career success to Kathy Shirilla. “She has been the most important person in my life as far as art is concerned because I’m not very good at marketing, and she knew her way around the art world,” Greytak attests. As his best friend and agent since 1984, Shirilla is “the number one reason” he’s been able to make art his life’s work and bring Montanans’ stories to life.
Creating calendars is another channel of Greytak’s storytelling. Each year, he compiles 13 images into a calendar to help support the Montana 4-H Foundation, which supports statewide 4-H programs. He has created these calendars for more than 25 years, benefiting several generations of Montana 4-H members. The project began when Tom Welch, a professor in Havre, contacted Greytak and proposed the idea. Don picked 13 images, and Welch published the calendar.
When he ran out of pieces previously created to match each season, Greytak began sketching 13 new drawings every year and has continued to do so. He enjoys the challenge of creating new images that tell stories. “I know I’m at my best when the artwork disappears and people don’t see my work, they see their own story.”
Find the 2023 Don Greytak Calendar at www.mt4hfoundation.org/greytak-calendars.html.