Hot Potato's, Manchester Painting

Born in 1969, Michael John Ashcroft grew up in a small picturesque village called Croston in the heart of Lancashire. From an early age he had a keen interest in art and can fondly remember watching other artists paint pictures of the famous Church Street. After leaving school in 1985 with top grades in art he began his career as an engineer, painting and sketching only in his spare time. In 1998 he had a major operation and decided to paint more seriously. He returned back to college and completed numerous classes in art including A- level fine art, OCA in portraiture and life drawing classes which he continues to do on a weekly basis. His early paintings were abstract acrylics and pastels which concentrated on the separation between light and dark before moving onto oils incorporating his early inspirations and techniques into the landscape around him. As Michael says, "Lancashire is a wonderful place for an artist to live, from its luscious greens and warm yellows during summer, to the long winter months where the skies hang majestically over the drab landscape; there is an endless amount of subject matter." Michael's breakthrough came in 2005, when he felt ready to exhibit in a major competition and entered into the International Artist exhibition. The painting was a top ten finalist and went onto win a major local exhibition and sold before the event opened. The following year he was approached by the editor of the International Artist Magazine asking if he could do a feature in the magazine on his work. He was approached by a handful of galleries who wanted to sell his work. Further successful exhibitions have followed including many awards including winner of the famous Harris Open Exhibition and solo exhibitions in 2009/2010/2011. Michael has had a rapid rise to success, through hard work and a passion for art he continues to push himself looking for new subjects and inspiration. Michael studied and works in Lancashire and is represented by galleries in England and Scotland. His work has been likened to great artists including Edward Hopper and Theodore Rousseau.