About Drew Conley

Born in Greenville in 1959, Drew Conley has spent all but nine years in the upstate of South Carolina. His father served as brass musician, college professor, and pastor; his mother, as an art gallery docent. From a child Drew loved to draw, paint, and sculpt. In college he double-majored in Bible and in art, with a particular emphasis on terra cotta sculpture. While working on his Ph.D. in Theology, he joined three friends who became career artists to form the Summer Studio at Bob Jones University, running three summers from 1989 to 1991. During that period Drew did landscapes, portrait busts, and sculptures of historical and literary figures. One of his lifesized terra cotta sculptures (1990) sits in the lobby of the Children’s Hospital at Greenville Memorial Hospital.

In the late summer of 1991 Drew entered full-time pastoral ministry in the suburbs of Columbia, SC, and continues in that vocation in Greenville since 2000. In 2008 he renewed his artwork with a focus on oil landscapes. John Singer Sargent, Kevin McPherson, and Scott Christensen have strongly influenced his approach to painting, along with the instruction and inspiration of nature itself. Both as pastor and artist Drew seeks to help people see the glory of the Creator’s handiwork—with their eyes and soul. Pastoral demands are great, but days off and vacation times allow recharging through artistic expression. Drew currently resides in Greenville with his wife and their two sons.

Artist Statement

To help people not just look, but actually see—that’s what an artist does. Every day we pass through a world that displays the handiwork of the Master Artist, Creator of heaven and earth.  Ever changing, ever speaking, all life and light whispers and shouts His astonishing power, wisdom, and love. Even in a broken world, divine beauty still shines through.

My oil landscapes attempt to capture the wonder, the joy, the glory of the Creator’s light—the life force that surges through earth, sky, and seas—and paints the cities of man with shimmering light. I am striving to help others see, then seek—and love—the Source of life and light.

—Drew Conley