Gary grew up in the working class neighborhood of Norristown, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His love of art began when he was young boy and continued throughout  his youth. In 1987 he received a BFA from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania where he took a diverse series of classes, including, art history, figure drawing and fiber arts. His artistic influences include Willem DeKooning, Wassily Kandinsky, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Henri Matisse, Jim Dine, and Larry Rivers. Currently, he works out of his studio in Norristown.