Michael has been married to Pat Walsh for 50 years and raised two sons yielding four wonderful grandchildren. In their home, they have established the Fine Art studio where Mike creates his work and the Fun Art studio where Pat works in various forms of fiber art.
Michael’s philosophical drive in painting is to co-create with his ultimate creator, to magnify God’s light, beauty, and truth in nature in an effort to make an honest and intentional statement. Michael will occasionally employ powdered glass in the lighted areas in some of his paintings to resonate this light and truth. This technique was used in Caravaggio’s “John The Baptist”.
Michael modulates amalgamations between realism and abstract components. System and Gradation becomes the driving mechanism which begins with that sense of realism, impressionism, and ends with the abstract expressionist marks. For example consider the different styles of the artists Daniel Green, Joaquin Sorrolla, and Frantz Cline. There are subordinate areas that support the main interest area in the whole of the work. This way Michael gets the best of all worlds. It is significant to note that Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “There is no chance, and no anarchy in the universe. All is system and gradation”. Gradation applies to hue, value, saturation, intensity, and temperature from top to bottom and side to side within the composition.
Michael’s basic color palette is what is called the ‘Limited Color Palette’ composed of six colors: Titanium White, Cadmium Lemon Yellow, Brilliant Rose, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber and Payne’s Gray. This limited color palette creates a close knit set of values which lends to better harmonic cohesion. All values emerge from the same pool of primaries.
Some of Michael’s favorite artists are Edgar Payne, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassette, Joaquin Sorrolla, John Singer Sargent, Matt Smith, Don Demers, Scott Christensen, Mian Situ, and Clyde Aspevig. His favorite reference books are Composition of Outdoor Painting by Edgar Payne-American Impressionist, Oil Painting Techniques and Materials by Harold Speed, Problem Solving for Oil Painters by Greg Kreutz, and Men of Art by Thomas Craven.
