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The world is full of fast, cheap definitions of beauty. I want to paint the poor in spirit, to illuminate the underdog, the overlooked, the bedraggled and beaten, those who have found their way out of the depths and carry the scars. This beauty is not born; it is made.

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Michael is a fine art oil painter in Santa Cruz, California. He finds inspiration in human stories and experiences, striving to capture honesty and truth in his subjects. Drawn to the beauty that comes on the other side of life's struggles, to those who have found their way out of the depths and carry the scars.

 

He is a husband, a father, and a high school history teacher. Passionate for social justice and seeing the unseen. 

 

Artistic inspiration: Rembrandt, Caravaggio, John Steinbeck, Odd Nerdrum, Dorothea Lange, Edward Hopper, Chuck Close, Diego Velazquez, Johnny Cash, William Turner, John Singer Sargent

 

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“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” 

-Elisabeth Kübler-Ross