Michael paints and resides on a small farm in Wildwood, Missouri with his wife and two daughters. After completing his art education at Auburn University in 1977 Michael returned to St. Louis and worked as a staff artist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 1978 he launched his freelance career and since then he has created commissioned artwork for such clients as Anheuser Busch, Civil War Times Illustrated, Time-Life, Miller Brewing Co., Warner Books and the National Park Service to name but a few. He is represented in St. Louis, Chicago, Dallas and Atlanta; his art has won numerous awards including Addys, the Communications Arts Show in Los Angeles and The Society of Illustrators Show in New York.

His work is in private and public collections in the U. S. and abroad and has been published on five continents. Currently Michael's original paintings and prints can be acquired through his studio and through galleries in Gettysburg, PA, Fredericksburg, VA, Atlanta, GA and various galleries and Interpretive Centers along the Lewis and Clark Trail.

A lifelong interest in history has inspired his passion for historically oriented painting and the knowledge of his subject matter has allowed him to authentically re-create these scenes. A dedicated researcher, Michael's devotion to correctly portraying the look and details of a time period has drawn the attention of both private and institutional collectors who demand the highest degree of accuracy.

For the past seventeen years much of his free time has been spent as an historic interpreter living the lifestyles of his subjects. Whether it's January's icy winds of Nauvoo Illinois, where the Mormons were expelled to Utah, or the sweltering heat of a one hundred mile Civil War era march on horseback through Virginia, Michael has relived it in accurate detail. His experience as a horse wrangler, and extra on such movies as "Glory", "Son of the Morning Star" and "Far And Away" has given him further insight into these time periods. Michael was also a consultant for the correct horse tack and furnishings for "Last of the Mohicans" and his "Uniform and Dress of the Corps of Discovery" paintings were selected as guides for the uniforms created for National Geographic films currently in production on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

With the Bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition approaching, Michael is involved with numerous painting commissions depicting the Corps of Discovery and their epic trek across America. As a result of the research that has gone into these projects, he has also collaborated with noted author and historian, Bob Moore, on "Tailor Made, Trail Worn", a book depicting the uniforms and clothing of the expedition. This book is the definitive work on the subject and includes a great deal of previously undocumented information.

Please contact the studio for further information on Michael's work or to commission a painting.