ARTIST BIO

Can you feel unexplained passion observing a work of art? Does a color you are not generally attracted to inexplicably draw you into a painting? Perhaps these questions can be explained by the use of color fields, texturing, movement, emotion, and tranquility. These all come together in paintings by Michael Molick.

Michael, born in 1950, grew up in a southwest suburb of Chicago with his parents and younger sister. His mother was a stay-home mom who worked after his sister and he were in school. She has always involved herself in such art interests such as painting, mosaics, sewing, and rope weaving. His father, a carpenter and general contractor in home remodeling, still draws his own plans on graph paper--which he continues to prefer over computers and computer-aided design. These were Michael’s first interests in art.

Michael’s attempted pursuit of art as more than a mere interest started when he was 14 and began seeing the artwork his two closest cousins were doing in high school. As his freshman year approached later that year, when he was ready to begin planning his course of study, his intention was to take as many art classes as he could fit into his schedule. An ill-advised counselor asked if he were going to be an art teacher, and he said no, that he just had a sincere interest in art. The counselor promptly erased all the art classes from his schedule for the next four years and said he’d give him a more college-preparatory program. Being rather shy and not expressing this to his parents, Michael put his art interests aside to partake in the studies that were outlined for him.

Once in college, he again thought he would take more art classes. However, he once more put this interest aside and more fully prepared himself for his career to give him as many opportunities as possible for future employment, thus earning multiple certificates to teach.

After graduating from college, he spent the first part of his adult life in a northwest suburb of Chicago pursuing his career. After devoting many years to it, he decided he needed to develop an outside interest and spend time on himself doing what he had always wanted to do: Paint. He began pursuing his art with a passion. He looked into taking formal university training but chose instead to study with Winifred Seibert in Chicago. She was patient, encouraging, and talented in bringing out the best artist he had inside him. He began developing a sense of design and organization. The freedom that she provided allowed him to paint what he wanted to paint with her non-critical, non-judgmental mentoring that helped guide him toward the established, professional artist he is today. He also studied with James Brandess and Peggy Boyce in Saugatuck, MI, and various artists in Door County, WI. He has pursued seminars, workshops, and classes to further broaden his skills and help him continue growing as an artist.

In his later 40s, moving around in the northwest and south suburbs of Chicago had almost become a way of life—having moved four times in 10 years after living in only two houses for the first 45 years of his life! However, each move represented a change in life focus, and he saw each as another step the ultimate plan for him. It was his fifth move, living full-time on the road with his best friend and empathic critic, Beacher, in an RV, that started changing things for him. That road trip was a one-year experience traveling through Cape Cod, Saugatuck-MI, Chicago, Door County-WI, and points in between visiting artists and art galleries.

“All of the artists I visited were welcoming and willing to share their experiences and knowledge,” says Michael. “Each art community was vibrant and an integral part of the residents’ lives.”

Michael’s initial bodies of work include figuratives and three-dimensional seascapes, landscapes, florals, and cottage scenes. These three-dimensional works are created with multiple layers, and he applies paint heavily to create them. Artworks in each one of these bodies of work are sought after and are in collections across the country.

After moving to Kansas City and opening a studio and gallery space in late 2006, his work took a major turn.

“I was unhappy with a floral I was creating and proceeded to use my palette knife to scrape away the layers of paint. As I began to prepare the canvas for use in a future work, I noticed the interplay of all the colors I had used for the floral. I continued working with this, then set the canvas aside. Within moments, I noticed something: It appeared the canvas was breathing! Wonderful texturing began to appear, and I got very excited.” As always, he called upon Beacher to come look at the work.

“As I talked to him on the phone, I turned around to look at the piece again and gasped, ‘The painting is still breathing!’ He came to my studio, looked at the piece, and asked if I could do it again. I did, and he said, “That’s your new body of work!” Hence, the creation and title of his new body of work, New Beginnings.

“I love the technique and the challenges it presents. I can retain the strong, bold colors in the piece and still create the texturing that have become known as my work.”

New Beginnings is a departure from his previous bodies of work. It is more abstract, utilizes strong color fields rather than subject matter, and has a unique texture. It is abstract rather than representational while still representing nature. Layers of color are applied to the canvas until an organic process occurs between the paint and the canvas, and a beautiful texturing occurs. Because of this, the absolute uniqueness of each piece is assured because no two paintings can be created the same. The color fields can be similar, and where the texturing starts on the canvas can be somewhat controlled, but the rest is organic. He calls this body of work organic, neo-expressionist abstracts.

Earthscapes was born from New Beginnings. Michael utilizes a more varied color palette, and the texturing is created in a different direction, giving it a more earth-like element. He explains that both bodies create a calm feeling, and the viewer is drawn into the paintings. There is an energy and movement that is created in each piece, and the texturing in each individual work lets the viewer see something different in each one. It is this individual interpretation that gives his work its originality.

He has also added naturescapes to some of his pieces to add other visual points. “A patron came to my gallery and was viewing one of my pieces, African Plain, with particular interest. I could see him focusing on different areas of the painting. He said, ‘There are five focal points in this piece: a hauntingly-beautiful sky, the small bird at the center, the horizon, the distant grove of trees at one end, and the pair of smaller birds by the trees. This is fascinating. Your eye wants to keep moving and see it all, but not in a distracting way.”

Asked from where he gets his motivation, Michael elaborated, “The motivation for my work is nature and its colors, textures, and auras and the impact these all have on me personally, singly or in combination. I love being outdoors: Camping, hiking, watching a sunset, and touring throughout the country have all influenced my work. My color palette has even come from textiles; I have seen material and cloth with beautiful color combinations and designs that are reminiscent of something one might see in nature--even if in an abstracted way. Sometimes I’ll take colors I’d just like to see together and turn them into a work of art.”

While two-dimensional in creation, Michael’s work expresses itself as three-dimensional due to the texturing he creates. One patron said, “I just want to touch it and see.” While his professionally-photographed work reveals this texturing, he elaborates: “My work is best viewed in person. This personal viewing actually draws the viewer into the painting and elicits a feeling that cannot always be experienced when seeing it in print.” His technique creates work that is truly unique and original.

Patrons have been particularly favorable of his art. “They will come to view my work and say they’ve never seen anything like it before. My art gives them a sense of calmness. Each patron sees something different in my pieces, and that’s what gives me pleasure--hearing how my artwork is personalized by them. Some can’t figure out why they are drawn to a particular painting when the main color is one they are not normally fond of. Even art students are taken aback by my work and admire it. I feel that this accounts for why there have been multiple acquisitions of my work.” Michael points out that several patrons have commented how his work reflects a little of Mark Rothko, but with emotion. Another powerfully noted, “It’s like nature, but the vibe of it--not just the scene.”

Michael has been involved with the Art for Arthritis Foundation working with children with juvenile arthritis. He has also participated in events, exhibits, and donations of work with the Kansas City Artists Coalition, Spoffard House, Good Samaritan, and the Bacchus Foundation. His donations of his time and art have helped bring in needed money for each of these organizations’ work in the community. His work has been curated for various venues in and around the Kansas City area, including CentricProjects, The Cellar Rat Wine Merchants, Garment District Boutique, Wells Fargo Securities, Children’s Health Care Corporation of America, Q Hotel, and The Manhattan.