When Michael was asked to join in the small art group started for residents of Harrison Street House in 1992, he replied: “Do I have to?” He was told he did not have to come unless he wanted to, and he did not join. Then one day, out of the blue, Michael showed Joan a sketch he had made of her new car. It was an incredible little drawing full of intricate details. Joan was astounded and urged him to come ONE time to the group to do a painting of her car. Michael came, and found that he loved the process of painting. He has been painting with us every since. Mike is considered to be “legally blind” but his powers of visual observation are actually very keen and specific. He enjoys drawing and painting with great detail from memory, and seems to have a real gift of a photographic memory. He also enjoys re-interpreting pictures he sees in magazines and art books. He draws many images of local places and people he’s observed carefully while sitting for long periods of time on various benches in the downtown area of Fort Bragg. Often, Mike will include a lot of text that tells a long story about something that has happened to him in his life. Sometimes the writing explains what is happening in his story pictures, or gives lengthy instructions on how things work. Mike works exclusively with fine black pens and watercolor paints. Because Mike is also hard of hearing, he does not engage in much conversation while he paints, but lets us know with his frequent chuckling that he really enjoys his work. He takes great pride in showing, and selling his artwork. Mike has proudly had his work shown at Make Studio in Baltimore and at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.
