ABOUT THE ARTIST
Biography
Michael has painted in the Northwest since the 1980's. He studied at the Art Students League in New York, and SUNY Cortland. He shows in galleries nationally and in Washington State. In 2017 he was featured in the Woodson Art Museums 42nd Annual “Birds in Art” exhibition. His painting was bought by the Woodson for their permanent collection. Michael was also featured in Fine Art Connoisseurs article ‘Today’s Masters -Avian Art Take Flight’ and has been commissioned by the US State Department for a 60x200” painting for the US Embassy in Pt. Moresley, Papua New Guinea.
STATEMENT
Art has always been a means of expressing our encounters with and astonishment at the natural world. A piece of art is never a direct reproduction of what we see in front of us; it always bears our stories and connections with it. Birds, flowers, and animals all speak to me about our common experiences: connection and solitude, love and sorrow, permanence, and impermanence. I paint to tell the tale of the beauty of life and hope.
A painting is created with marks and drips, paint and pencil, and a series of minor decisions and struggles. When done properly, a painting captures that exquisite and transient moment of creation, perhaps a touch of magic.
SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTIST
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In every palette I use there is Naplew yellow and Paynes Grey. I have an affinity to them, I know them, they're like old friends.
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The opposite, I saved a piece by ruining it. I was doing life size charcoal drawings of friends and I couldn't get the face right on one. I erased it so much that all around the jaw the paper's surface was worn all the way through. Never looked like my friend, but it turned out to be a great drawing.
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Looking up to tree canopies.
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Jazz, electronica, rock. Essential listening in the studio is Coltrane, Joan Osborne, Grateful Dead, Phillip Glass, Zappa, Bill Frisell, and Joe Zawinul.
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Screens from a screen door.
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Four weeks.
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Oranges and Coconut LaCroix.
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There are two paintings I always think about. Henri Matisse - View of Notre Dame 1914, and Larry Rivers, Double Portrait of Berdie.
MORE FROM THE ARTIST
TALKS & INTERVIEWS
On Art and Healing | October 2023, Museo Gallery
IN SITU
