Discover Michigan Artist Studio

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The idea for Michigan Artist Studio began to take shape when I started looking into gallery representation. In truth, though, the seed had been growing for years. My son Jake and I had long been sharing ideas, critiquing each other’s work, and sometimes convincing the other that a painting was truly finished. Over time, we realized we weren’t just two painters under the same roof — we were a team.

My own journey with art began back in the early 1970s, with nothing but a stack of Walter Foster instruction books and a stubborn determination. In third grade, I discovered that someone else in my class could draw better than I could, and that lit a fire in me. My report cards often scolded me for paying more attention to sketching than to schoolwork. I used to sign my assignments with little doodles instead of my name — and sometimes, the teachers even let me get away with it.

By junior high, I was drawing seriously, and by eighth and ninth grade, I was painting — even taking on the occasional commission for friends and family. After college, I painted mostly for fun, but I often felt unsatisfied without understanding why. Then, in my late thirties, I stumbled upon the art blog of Stapleton Kearns, whose insight and recommendations opened my eyes to just how much I didn’t know. I dove into every book he suggested, reading them cover to cover and copying every drawing until the lessons sank in.

During this time, I taught my kids to draw, showing them how light, shape, and shadow worked. Jake took to it naturally — his gift for mass, light, and brushwork grew quickly. By the time he was about fourteen or fifteen, we were truly painting side-by-side, developing our skills in parallel.

I’ve lived in Michigan nearly all my life, from Copper Harbor in the Keweenaw Peninsula to Detroit and Lansing, with countless towns, forests, and shorelines in between. Those landscapes, in all their variety, have shaped our palettes, our compositions, and our shared passion for realism. Today, Michigan Artist Studio is simply the natural expression of that lifelong journey — a father and son capturing the beauty of the place we call home