Interview
Gregory Michael Maness
Artist Gregory Michael Maness, known simply as Grego, did not set out to invent a new art medium. He was chasing something far more elusive. Grego was fascinated by two natural phenomena that meet along the Gulf Coast horizon: Ocean sea foam and Cumulus clouds drifting across the sky. Both forms appear, expand, and dissolve in constantly changing patterns. Their beauty lies in motion, texture, and light. Traditional materials could imitate their appearance, but they could never behave like them. Grego wanted a material that could grow the way sea foam builds along the shoreline and clouds rise in the atmosphere. Through years of experimentation along the Gulf Coast, including many unexpected failures and breakthroughs, he began developing what would eventually become Cloud Foamulus™.
The material expanded outward in organic and unpredictable ways, forming sculptural structures that resembled atmospheric formations frozen in time. For the first time, clouds could be sculpted not by carving, but by growth. Cloud Foamulus™ allowed forms to rise, spread, and solidify into dimensional landscapes that exist somewhere between painting and sculpture. This discovery introduced a new sculptural medium, allowing artists to shape atmospheric form through expansion rather than traditional modeling or carving. Every Cloud Foamulus™ artwork contains infused white sand gathered from Pensacola Beach, adding natural texture and subtle sparkle while grounding the ethereal forms in the coastal environment where the medium was first developed. Since the 1990s, Grego has signed his original works simply with his name. Today, his work continues to explore the boundary between sea, sky, and imagination, using the medium he discovered to capture something normally impossible to hold: the fleeting architecture of clouds.
Cloud Foamulus™ — the sculptural medium that grows like clouds.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I began painting in the 1990's in San Diego California where I built the original Gregoart Studios and Gregoart.com. I lived nearby may wineries and found inspiartion in landscapes and field worker scenes. I experimented with numerous formats of mediums and found that i likes impasto pallate knife painting with brush assist most. In 2023 now semi retired, my wife Dr Paula Maness and I moved back to Milton, Florida near Pensacola and retooled my art career, website ‘Gregoart.com’ and social media platforms. In 2025, I created a new art style know as Cloud Foamulus Sculptural Edge infusing expansion foam and bright white Pensacola Beach Sand to canvases and inserting art inside the cloud foamulus appications.”
What inspires you?
“I am inspired by nature and outdoors, and drifting clouds.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“My new artwork is free style, using my imagination to create multiple mediums to complete new art. Some call it bricolage but creating new from the old. This new style has allowed me to spread my wings and fly.”
How would you describe your work?
“Mind Blowing, when I created it after many mistakes it became second hand. Now, if I can imagine it I can complete it.”
Which artists influence you most?
“Early years, Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet.”
What is your creative process like?
“I think about things a lot, create a quick sketch for concept and balance, then create materials like laser cut outs and metal objects, coastal materials etc. and go to work. This new style has created a whirl wind of curiosity.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“The artist role is to be creative, using imagination, to create your own unique style. Share your creativity with others, especially the young children who are addicted to electronics. It allows them to open up their mid and find self discovery. My work these days is very different from when I first started in the 1990's.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“Years ago, I displayed at small business and galleries in San Diego, California, Little Italy and Los Angeles. Gregoart.com is in the works to have new art work placed in the Pensacola Art Gallery, and several other local art galleries.”
Website: www.Gregoart.com
Instagram: @Gregoartstudios
Other links: www.facebook.com/people/GregoArt-Studios
