10.11.09 07:46 PM

the first time Michael resides in the seaside town of Florence, along the dramatic and rugged central Oregon .

Our family was stationed in Europe after the war as part of the occupation in Germany in 1946,and then in France in the mid 50's. I remember as a young boy being fascinated with an old French landscape oil painting which I came accross while exploring one of the storerooms of our house. It depicted the river which ran along the edge of the little village of Ardente France near where we were living. I was hooked on art from that day forward, trying to imagine how it was painted. Oil peinting became my objective from then on.Of course, I didn't realize at the time how difficult a task I had prescribed for myself. To me painting was easy, and fun! Thats all that mattered, the hard work was yet to come and with every new painting I feel like I have just begun to see, just begun to understand, just begun to get

born. 1944, San Francisco, Ca.

Although I have an undergraduate degree, and began having my first oneman shows while in college,it is years of life, observation, and hard work which have taught me.. I like to say that I only started painting yesterday, because its true in a way. Each day is always just the beginning, where there was only ignorancebefore.. Sometimes I wonder if I can ever match the work of my favorite artists andmentors,J. S. Sargent, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Dean Cornwell, Frank Tenney Johnson, and many others. This is the challenge, and this is the fun,that gets me into the studio every single day of the year.untill the sun goes down

All subjects intrique and inspire me, from the majestic to the commonplace: High mountain scenes, to pebbles in a stream, animals and people, sea and sky, and everything in between. You will begin to see more of an emphasis, going forward, toward "Genre" subjects of people and anilmals in everyday situations and places in my work. I am particularly fond of the Nocturn and the mood it conveys, looking for the embers which glow in the cooling fires of day or the sparkling gems which twinkle in the moonlight.. Regardless of the subject, I am forever determined to comprehend and describe the patterns of nature which seek to bind seemingly disparate elements into one homogeneous whole.

The creation of art is a process which lends pride to humility and humiliates pride! . FMW 2009