Michael Lies

Painting is a visual art.

The painter is the painting.

I am inspired by many artists such as Kandinsky, Miro and Pollock.

The key for me to begin each painting is having a quiet mind while sitting in front of a blank canvas. This process opens the portal to understanding that art is primordial and spiritual. From ancient times mystics have taught us about the hidden side of things. One of these invisible elements is the etheric body, or webbing, that surrounds our physical body.

Let your imagination take you through the portal when you view the images of the Atomic Web Series. The artistic process involves covering the entire blank canvas with webbing to form various patterns. Then three to six colors are sprayed over the webbing. After the paint has dried, the webbing is removed. Now the background is in place and the various patterns emerge. Additional forms are created using acrylic paint and brushes or palette knives until the painting 'tells' me that it is complete.

I'm planning to paint a new series using larger canvases once I move from the Northeast to Southern California. In this new locale I am going experiment with combining acrylics, oils and spray paint.

Except for a few painting classes early in my career, I am a self-learning artist. I love to experiment with each canvas by using various color combinations and creating original forms.

Worked in feature film art departments 1980 - 1989. Also worked on numerous industrial films.

Worked with George Romero 1978 - 1979, providing extra casting for "Dawn of the Dead".

Studied Fine Arts and Literature at the University of Pittsburgh 1967 - 1969.

Solo exhibit of 40 paintings June 2017 at Artworks Around Town in Wheeling, West Virginia.

Twelve paintings exhibited in May/June 2017 at the Christine Frechard Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA

Two paintings exhibited in 2015/2016 at Gallery 4 in Pittsburgh, PA

Exhibited "Homage to Kahoutek" painting (12' x 15') in 1976 at Pittsburgh's first New Age Exposition. Also exhibited paintings at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Art Festival in 1967.