Painted bench design by the author

Besides writing, much of Michael's creative energy goes into the creation of painted furniture and other contemporary craft pieces for Reincarnations Painted Furniture. Michael plans on continuing his involvement with the company, with a redesign of current themes carried on the site, as well as new furniture designs, including new painted folding room divider screens, fully hand painted benches, and children's furniture. As he goes forward with his plans for Reincarnations, Michael will once again begin attending juried contemporary craft exhibitions, and will design and build a custom booth to be used in these events, once again drawing upon his display and exhibit experience.

Leopard - Pen and Ink

Michael has enjoyed creating art all his life, even though the demands upon his time have often prevented him from devoting the time necessary to hone his artistic skills to something approaching their true potential. Michael is working to return to his creative roots, with a re-dedication to maximizing his skills. He plans to challenge himself in the future with new projects in both drawing and painting, with particular attention to his favorite mediums: pencils, pen and ink, acrylics, and oils. In the past, Michael has felt his best subjects were landscapes and animals, and he will continue to create works along these themes for pleasure, but plans on taking on new challenges at every opportunity, working more in the subjects he feels needs improvement, such as figure studies and still life.

Mister Fingers, An original character painting by the author - Acrylics, 2004

Although Michael has always enjoyed painting classical subject matter, his secret passion has always been for more illustrative types of drawing and painting, from fantasy and science-fiction to the darker, more edgier world of horror and the macabre. Michael plans on working more in these areas in the future. Michael has always harbored a love for the pulp characters of fiction, such as Doc Savage and The Shadow, and is looking forward to creating some works based on them, and on characters created by his favorite childhood authors, including Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conqueror, and Solomon Kane, by Robert E. Howard, the characters of Barsoom, including John Carter of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Elric of Melnibone, by Michael Moorcock. He will also be concentrating more on creating original characters belonging to a number of genres, both for pleasure and for possible future inclusion in a graphic novel. Will he realize his dream of becoming a comic book author and artist as well? Only time will tell.

Barricade - a sketch based on events from the author's first novel

Michael's real desire, however, is to be able to draw upon his Art Director experience to create the covers for his own novels, and to provide color interior plates, preferably in the regular editions, or in special editions to be published later. Michael sees his writing in a visual way, and hopes to translate these concepts into an illustrative form. It is rare to find authors skilled in more than one creative art, and it is Michael's dream to combine his love of illustration and painting with his passion for writing.