INSIDE THE WORLD OF DON GREENWOOD

The artistic notions of Don Greenwood have been "immortalized" upon the south wall of one of his favorite haunts, Port Cape Girardeau.

Two large, plexiglass sheets protect dozens of delicate four-inch by four-inch cocktail napkins, which have succumbed their functional worth to Greenwood's pen while he enjoyed a beer or two and a South American cigar with friends.

Greenwood, an apt conversationalist himself, will take bits and pieces of the often colorful banter going on around him and create a mini-masterpiece before his companions realized he has adjourned from the discussion.

Although definitely not the picture of the Starving New York Artist -- donned in black from head to foot, sipping too-dry red wine -- Greenwood epitomizes the city he's come to call home.

He has a friendly face, a down-home attitude finely laced with a sharp intellect and an accepting nature, all poured into a man with boyish good-looks dressed in a uniform of blue jeans and cotton shirts. Greenwood is the Cape Girardeau artist.

"If you are a plumber, you do plumbing every day, if you are a carpenter, you work, build or remodel every day," Greenwood said. "My philosophy is that to be considered a true artist, you have to do art everyday; that's what sets you apart from someone who just likes to draw.

"And if you make money at it, then you are a commercial artist, no matter what you do," he said.

Greenwood, who will turn 49 next month, has made money from his creations for more than 30 years, after he began his career with Hallmark Greeting Cards. He moved to Cape Girardeau in the late 1960s, when he took a job with American Greeting Cards as a graphic artist.

Not exactly what you would call the "9-to-5 type," Greenwood worked with American Greeting Cards for only a couple years before heading off on his own.

Greenwood describes the art he creates as, "whatever needs to be done."

"I don't believe in talent," Greenwood said. "If you are interested in something, you do it; you do it a lot until you get good at it.

"It really offends me when someone says, `what a talent you have,'" Greenwood said. "I've worked many, many years to get good at what I do."

Before getting started on a project, Greenwood will research his topic through written literature, pictures or other media, or will sometimes wander out to Shepherd's Point at Trail of Tears State Park to get in touch with his inner muse.

"When I actually get to work, I don't look at anything -- I just sit in front of a blank sheet of paper," he said.

"When I do commercial art, I like using overlays," he continued. "Sometimes I'll use 10 or 12, changing it just a little bit each time until I end up with exactly what I want."

When Greenwood has matched the picture on his paper to the picture in his mind, he transfers the image to Bristol board for his customer to view.

"I work pretty fast compared to some artists," Greenwood said. "Part of that is because I will go with my initial impulse, which has seemed to work best for me over the years."

Part of his efficiency is due to the deadlines set for him by customers.

"I spent a lot of years thinking I couldn't do my work with deadlines until I realized that I couldn't work without them," Greenwood said. "If I were to do something `when I get around to it,' it would never happen."

Greenwood said that when his work was first published in the former River City Review, he felt a certain degree of pride, knowing other people were seeing and enjoying what he had drawn.

"But now I've designed well over 200 -- closer to 250 -- T-shirts and all kinds of logos," Greenwood said. "They're everywhere; that kind of takes the novelty out of it."

As a child growing up in New Orleans, Greenwood had an early passion for drawing.

"I taught an art class in St. Mary's for a while a few years back," he said. "One thing I noticed in particular is when you asked a room full of first graders how many artists there were among them, almost every hand went up immediately.

"But when you asked an eighth-grade class the same question, everyone looked accusingly at the one person who almost shamefully raises his hand," he continued. "It left me wondering what happened to all the artists?"

Greenwood said that many young people who are drawn by the desire to create art tend to be chastised by their peers.

"Many would-be artists are discouraged very early in life," Greenwood said. "Having peers laugh at you leaves a lasting impression; pretty soon that person is no longer an artist."

Even Greenwood tried his hand at "something more traditional."

"I studied English and literature at a Kansas City junior college for a couple years," Greenwood said. "I'm not sure why -- but I did."

Greenwood settled in Cape Girardeau after living in sprawling metropolitan areas such as New Orleans, Shreveport, La., Jackson, Miss., Kansas City and Tulsa, Okla.

"I would be (in New Orleans) today if I didn't have seven sisters in the New Orleans area," Greenwood said.

"I've found that it's very easy to live in Cape Girardeau," he continued.

"Several years ago, it occurred to me that the best times in your life aren't spent at some major event in a metropolitan area," Greenwood said. "Instead, the best times of your life are spent at a barbecue in someone's back yard, at a small restaurant eating and drinking with friends or in your own living room hosting a small get together.

"There are a lot of good people here in Cape Girardeau," he said.

Greenwood said that it does bother him, however, that his two sons had to move to Dallas to get lucrative jobs in the computer industry, because such an opportunity was not available to them locally.

"I don't like having to go to Dallas to see my grandchildren," Greenwood said.

Of his five children, only one daughter lives in Cape Girardeau. His two youngest live with their mother in Kansas City.

Greenwood's youngest daughter, Lily, was his inspiration for a children's book he recently wrote and illustrated.

"Random House, Dr. Seuss's publishing company, held a contest for people to submit a children's book which was written and illustrated by the same person," Greenwood said. "There were more than 1,000 entries; I didn't win."

But that didn't discourage Greenwood. He has since submitted the book to a professional editor, to ready the book for submittal to other publishing companies.

When Greenwood is not creating his masterpieces, at work on the downtown home he and his companion, Roseanna Whitlow, are remodeling, or at the local pub hashing it out with friends, the artist escapes to the solitude of wilderness.

"I've walked a lot of trails in this area over the past several years," Greenwood said. "I like being outdoors, but I also enjoy the solitude.

"I have a lot of friends I can do things with, but sometimes I just enjoy being out by myself."

Although Greenwood has made Cape Girardeau home, he said it's not a lucrative market for artwork.

"There's not a whole lot of money in this area," Greenwood said. "There's always plenty of work for an artist. It's just a matter of what you are willing to do for what they're prepared to pay."

For richer or for poorer, Greenwood is content.

"Like any artist, I would like to have a studio where I could do only what I want to do and have people flock from far and near to pay exorbitant prices for my work," Greenwood said.

"But I suppose anything between here and there would make me pretty happy."