ART TALKS: Michael Wilson, Painting to Strong Coffee and Rock 'n' Roll

Photo Credit: Submitted by Michael Wilson

Don Quixote’s the perfect analogy for a lot of artists Michael Wilson knows. Himself included.

“He’s dedicated to his vision regardless of good sense and the opinion of others,” said Wilson. “That, and his pursuit of a dream that is almost impossible to come true.”

Wilson lives and works in his studio in Waltham-the Waltham Mills Artists buildings on Moody Street. He also teaches adult painting classes in his studio at the New Art Center in Newtonville, and builds custom stretched canvases for artists.

He knew he’d be an artist ever sense he “realized in high school that I would never play pro football.”

“I went with what I was actually good at: drawing,” he said. “It first, it was just really fun, then challenging, and always rewarding.

At 15, Wilson’s parents signed him up for the Famous Artist’s Course By Mail when he sent in the drawing from the ad on the back cover of a comic book. It’s then that they realized he was serious.

“I still use the foundation skills they taught me in both my work and my teaching,” he said.

Using lots of variation, from realism to surrealism and cubist to pure abstraction, Wilson will describe his style as contemporary. Still, it’s hard to say.

“I do a lot of different kinds of painting, depending on what image I want,” said Wilson, who admires Degas, Van Gogh, early Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg and Richard Deibenkorn.

Too often, admits Wilson, he says he wants to jump in and work on whatever he’s got going on at the moment.

“Having said that, I do feel like I spend a lot of time staring at my work,” he added. “Some problems can be solved best by just sitting and looking at them long enough. I drink strong coffee [when I paint] and listen to rock ‘n’ roll or books on CD. I can’t work if I drink alcohol, but occasionally a little pot helps.”

View Wilson’s work here, and find information to his latest exhibits. He also maintains a blog here.

Currently, the only place to buy his work these days is at his studio in Waltham, which is easily arranged anytime with a phone call or email. He also participates in the Waltham Open Studios the first weekend in November every year.

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