This USPS electronic technician has been painting landscapes for 40 years

My name is Gary Harned and I’m an electronic technician for the Postal Service in Grand Junction, CO.

When I’m not at work, you can find me painting landscapes — a passion of mine for nearly 40 years.

I was always the guy who would hang out in his room building models, doodling and sketching. My college roommate was an architectural student, and he introduced me to a new realm of structured art.

After I graduated with a degree in marketing management, I went back to school to study architectural design. I left after two years when I realized I preferred the art side of things.

I met a landscape painter, Ed Szmyd, through my father. Ed took me under his wing and showed me avenues I wouldn’t have considered. Even though I’m largely self-taught, you could say I became a long-distance student of Ed’s.

I lived in North Carolina in the 1980s and my landscapes reflected that environment. But when I moved to rural western Colorado in 1991, North Carolina’s dogwoods and rhododendrons were replaced by Colorado’s deserts, arroyos and canyons.

Right now, I’m working on a composition of two older gentlemen on the front porch of a country market.  I first thought about that years ago but only recently got the inspiration to start it.

I’ll be thinking of something for years and not act on it until the muse hits. She’s always there. Sometimes she tells me something, but I don’t listen and it’s my mistake. She’s smarter than I am.

I was able to support myself as an artist early on, but life throws you a curve and eventually I had to get a job. I worked at an airline for 17 years until my position ended in 2011.

That’s when I joined the Postal Service.

I work a 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift during what they call the run tour, when machines process letters. I learned about machines as a kid from tinkering in the garage with my dad. I even ran a side business maintaining and restoring Mercedes-Benzes decades ago.

Each day I get to use two sides of my brain — the painter on one side and the technician on the other.

From late fall to early spring, I spend 2-3 hours each morning painting before work, but there is too much going on in summer to paint.

I plan on spending a great deal more time in my studio after I retire.

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