Bio
Born in 1979, Michael grew up in Port Arthur, TX, a city about 90 miles Southeast of Houston. Being raised the youngest of three children by a single mother, Michael's childhood was full of struggles. Many times doing without financially, his family was held together by the love they had for each other. His mother never complained about anything and made sure he took pride in everything he did. She recognized his talent at an early age and encouraged but never forced it. From that encouragement Michael found his strength and direction.

It wasn't until his early 20's that Michael decided to pursue art professionally which lead him to San Francisco to study fashion design. There his life took a drastic change, instantly falling in love with both painting and a woman named Dawn, who later became his wife. After returning to Texas, he found as much information as possible on painting and began to teach himself techniques of the art. Artists such as Michelangelo, Rembrandt and Carravaggio are who resonated with him. It seemed to Michael that their work said all the things that he wanted to say emotionally and technically. The next few years were spent painting and studying his craft. He moved to New Orleans to be closer to Dawn and soon after found himself back in Texas after evacuating from Hurricane Katrina.

In 2006 Michael and Dawn relocated to Vermont where she is a culinary student. The move proved valuable for him as he enrolled in art school where his inspiration and skill shot to a new level. He quickly made a name for himself with his first solo exhibition in early 2007 that received rave reviews, giving a much needed boost to his career. Michael is set to receive his BFA in 2008 and plans on pursuing his Master's immediately after.
Artist Statement
From the beginning the creative process of actually turning inner vision to outer reality has struck me as powerful. Painting fills me with a sense of accomplishment and responsibility and has become my main vehicle for communication. When I work, I always start by visualizing a finished product which gives me my direction for that piece. Although my work is very technical, to me I'm simply filling in the blanks to achieve my goal. I paint with a palette knife ninety percent of the time because of the unpredictability. My strokes are very deliberate but it is the subconscious side that guides me, presenting opportunity for error and revision along the way. My paintings express my raw emotion at that time whether it's pain, love or simply beauty. I don't want to force my opinion on viewers by being literal so I focus on composition, color and subtle details to get my point across. My aim is not to tell people what to feel or think but rather to touch them in a way that allows them to feel their own emotion and thoughts when looking at my work.