Bright Colorado Morning
Size: 30 x 36 - Oil on Linen - Framed
Awards: Finalist in the Art Masters 2023 Year End Show hosted by Top Art Awards
Michael discovered the perfect location for his representational high-mountain landscape during a plein air excursion in the enchanting Vale area. The distant mountain, a striking part of the majestic Gore Range, features beautifully jagged peaks that effortlessly captured the artist's imagination.
His painting employs a triangular composition that instills a profound sense of stability and balance, drawing the viewer’s focus inward. The masterful use of light, vivid colors, and subtle shifts in value breathe life into the canvas, creating an immersive vision of deep space that mirrors the crisp, azure skies of a radiant winter day in Colorado.
Through his artistic skill, Michael intricately weaves a sense of dimension, guiding the viewer’s eye across the undulating landforms and lush surroundings. The result is a captivating portrayal that communicates the vastness and untouched beauty of the wilderness, evoking a feeling of serenity and admiration for nature's splendor.
Cottonwood Reflections
Size: 24 x 36 - Oil on Linen - Framed
Awards: World Art Award –2024 Art Collectors Choice 3rd Place Realism Landscape, 2024 Art & Color 365 Special Merit Award, 2023 Peak Art Adventure Best of Show, PleinAir Magazine's 13thPleinAir Salon-Water Award, Art Master’s April 2023 Finalist Award, Teravarna 7th Landscape Finalist Award, & Teravarna 5th Water Show-Honorable Mention
This extraordinary painting, celebrated with multiple awards, captivates admirers and draws attention wherever it is showcased. The artist’s profound sense of tranquility, experienced upon discovering this picturesque location between Buena Vista and Salida, Colorado, resonates through the vibrant colors, soft light, intricate shadows, and shimmering reflections depicted on the canvas. It beautifully encapsulates a serene moment on the riverbank during a warm summer day, inviting the viewer to immerse themselves in the peaceful atmosphere.
The Arkansas River, with its diverse aquatic environments and expansive open spaces, beckons both nature lovers and wanderers alike. It offers a soothing escape from our hectic, hyper-connected lives, allowing us to savor precious moments of solitude. The mesmerizing symmetry of the reflections dancing upon the surface of the stream, paired with the unique silhouettes of the cottonwood trees, creates a captivating window into nature’s paradise. This enchanting scene conveys a sense of calm and beauty, transporting any observer to a tranquil haven that enriches their surroundings.
The Divide At High Noon
Size: 36 x 48 - Oil on Linen - Framed
Awards: World Art Award 2024 Art Collectors Choice Award – 2nd Place Realism Landscape, Art Masters Year End 2023-2nd Place, & Teravarna 7th Landscape-Finalist Award
This majestic Colorado landscape presents as a frame into the vast mountain wilderness that leads the viewer through the valley and forest entry to the foot of this mountain in the continental divide. The window into this unspoiled area of the Rocky Mountain region charms the spectator while conveying a sense of security and warmth on this early summer day.
Horse Creek Cottonwoods
Size: 30 x 40 - Oil on Panel - Framed
Awards: Art Masters Year End – 3rd Place - Top Art Awards
This painting is from an area that the artist considers his “backyard”, just a few miles from his home and studio. It’s a scene that exposes the formidable elements of winter as cold, snowy and deserted while inviting you to explore the warmth and illumination of the secluded forest area by utilizing backlight as the warm and welcoming friend.
High Country Monsoons
Size: 20 x 24 - Oil on Linen - Framed
Awards: Reserve Our Gallery - April Curator's Award
Michael believes that it is his responsibility to visually communicate the emotions he encounters each day with the environment. This pictures captures a typical summer afternoon in Colorado. The season's climate brings a monsoon season, where afternoon storms move through daily. This portrait of a couple of lone trees sitting on an embankment behind the puddles left behind from the passing storm, leaves the witness with a melancholy attachment to the tranquil moment in time, as the clouds slowly begin to pass, moving toward the distant backlit mountain range.
Late in the Day Near Salida
Size: 18 x 24 - Oil on Panel - Framed
Awards: Oil Painters of America - 2024 OPA National Juried Show at James R Ross Fine Art
This painting introduces viewers to a southwestern scene that features a wilderness area along Colorado's Arkansas River. The magnificent cottonwood trees on the river bank are unique and charismatic, creating a unique story of peace with the high desert landscape as a background. The heat of the summer day is diminished by the shade and the reflections cast in the water, generating a lazy invitation to all to come, sit and relax in the moment.
Mount Princeton - Now This is Colorado!
Size: 30 x 36 - Oil on Canvas - Framed
Views of the continental divide near Buena Vista, CO are spectacular and difficult to present on a two-dimensional surface. This view of Mt. Princeton, as seen from Highway 24 personifies the mountains of Colorado. The dramatic space depicted in this Colorado scene demonstrates the powerful feelings tourists and visitors encounter as they pass through areas where minor mountains have been excavated to create two-lane highways. The visual experience is like attending a theatre production and that moment when the curtains separate allowing you your first glimpse of the story. Viewers experience an aha moment as the round the curve into what appears to be the entrance into what could be heaven on earth. As the sign outside of Buena Vista says, “Now this is Colorado!”
The Snowy Cottonwoods on Horse Creek
Size: 12 x 24 - Oil on Panel - Framed
Winters can be long in this high elevation western area and the artist invites you to explore this frosty place from your warm vantage point. This area opens up from a pull-off near the artist’s home with a fresh snow that sanitizes the countryside, emphasizes the light reflected on the white ground cover. This unspoiled space with its frost covered trees and intense blues of the mountain stream lead you back into a morning horizon, intense with the pinks of daybreak that are distinctive in the mountains.
High Country Late Summer
Size: 24 x 30 - Oil on Linen - Framed
Awards: World Art Awards 2023-4th Place
This captivating painting boldly depicts the transition from the vibrant greens of summer to the rich browns and striking reds of fall. The dynamic interplay of light and dark not only captures the essence of summer but confidently foretells the impending seasonal shift. Tarryall State Park, featured in the artwork, stands as a cherished expanse in Colorado, beloved by the artist.
Blue Nocturne
Size: 48 x 60, Oil on Linen, Gallery Wrap
Awards: World Art Awards 2024 Art Collectors Choice - 4th Place Realism Landscape, Teravarna 5th Water Show - Honorable Mention, Fusion Art 2024 Land, Sea & Sky - Finalist Award, Light Space & Time 2023 Seascape Show - Special Recognition
This evocative seascape intricately captures the ambiance of a balmy summer afternoon as a powerful storm moves through the space. The turbulent, billowing clouds cast an ominous hue, while gusts of wind relentlessly churn the waves, crashing them against the rugged shoreline. The interplay of light and shadow heightens the tension, infusing the tranquil day-scape with a palpable sense of drama and unease, but with a promise of sunshine and tranquility. This painting is a totally conceptual piece that was created in the studio.
Blue Skies on the Gore Range
Size: 6 x 8, Oil on Panel, Framed
The awe-inspiring mountainous panorama unfolds majestically across the distant horizon, adorned with snow-capped peaks that create a breathtaking contrast against the serene, azure sky. This enchanting winter depiction of the Gore Range near Vail, CO portrays a picturesque foreground that guides the viewer along a tranquil hiking trail nestled within a grove of quivering Aspens, while Vail Mountain looms magnificently in the far-off backdrop.
Deep Forest Falls
Size: 20 x 16, Oil on Panel, Framed
The enchanting waterfall, tucked away deep in the heart of the forest, awaits eager hikers to discover its beauty. On a summer day, the lush foliage and thriving shrubbery are illuminated by the sun, creating a vibrant and misty atmosphere. The path of the flowing water is adorned with scattered rock formations, infusing the scene with captivating drama and energy. Michael is continually inspired by the challenge of capturing the power and movement of the cascading water on a two-dimensional surface, recognizing the opportunity to depict the dynamic nature of this breathtaking natural wonder.
Fall in the Eagle River Valley
Size: 8 x 10, Oil on Panel, Framed
Artists realize that landscapes are simply a visual communication of a story of nature. Michael was classically trained to paint from life, so it's understandable why he was drawn to en plein air and landscapes. Everywhere he looks is a new subject, that tells a unique story. The narrative for this small piece relates to reflection - in the water, as well as this serene moment of isolation in the space and sounds of nature in the majestic Pike National Forest. It's remarkable when a spectator can look at a painting, and not only see the forest, but also hear it and smell it as well.
First Light
Size: 12 x 16, Oil on Panel, Framed
Awards: Top Art Award Art Masters Summer 2024 - Finalist Award
It was during a painting excursion in the Gore Range that Michael stumbled upon this unique perspective that presented itself as three lone trees on a mountain overlooking the high range in the background. The trees allow the viewer to explore the cycle of life for fir trees among mountain outcroppings. The snow covered, unspoiled mountain tops allow the backlight to illuminate the snowy surface while reflecting the soft colors of the morning sky. The solitude of the moment and the isolation at the elevation creates a sense of gratitude for the pristine environment.
