Michael sees joy in the ordinary. The fantastic colours and textures of fruit and vegetables excite him, and he wants to translate that through his compositions to bring the viewer a sense of beauty and serenity.

A shy child, Michael needed an outlet for his youthful energy. He had a knack for drawing, in which he found a new confidence while impressing his parent’s friends. Michael made the most of his small box of Crayolas, progressing through tempera paints to watercolour, then received a set of oil paints for Christmas when he was 15 and started using it immediately. He loved the texture of the oil, and applied it thick.

Michael’s first oil painting was a still life, an eclectic grouping of items cobbled together from his mother’s cupboard. Thumbing through art books, his biggest inspiration was Paul Cezanne; still lifes and French villages excited him with their bright colours and rough textures. He was also dazzled by the work of the Group of Seven.

Michael made himself two promises that same summer: First, that he would always work in a creative field, and second, that he would return one day to oil painting and live out the rest of his days doing what he loved. From 1987 to 1990 Michael attended the Capilano College Design & Illustration Program, (now known as the IDEA program), and subsequently worked for two decades in the graphic design and advertising agency world.

In 1998 Michael took a year off from the graphic design field to produce a body of work for a one man show. In 1999, he returned to still life as subject matter. He completed one or two large paintings a year, and sold them by word–of–mouth. In 2007, he decided it was time to make painting a priority again. He honed his style of still life representation while keeping his day job, steadily building a new body of work. In 2008 he launched this website. In 2009, he was accepted by the Federation of Canadian Artists as an Active Member.