ORIGINALS WORKS
Change. Move. Push. Ignite. Break. Explore.
These are words that inspire me as a person and inform my work as an artist.
I like risks. I like a challenge.
Each blank canvas is an opportunity to risk.
Picking up a brush is a chance to meet a challenge.
I paint because it is complete freedom. Freedom to change. To move. To push. To ignite. To break. To explore.
To let everything inside me spill out, fly out, drip out.
And then there’s the surprise. When I look at what has happened. What is happening. There’s a million choices to make.
And not one of them is wrong.
The fact that I can use paint, brushes and my hands to create something totally unique never ceases to amaze me.
I am currently exploring the use of typography, color and composition to create pieces that challenge our preconceptions. Typography is “the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible.” I incorporate letters and numbers into my work to make the beauty of design visible. The goal is to strip away their inherent meaning and use them as objects. Putting them together in order to build the composition of the piece. My hope is that when people look at the work, their logical minds, conditioned to make sense of those letters and numbers, are freed to experience them in a new way. Allowing them to create something unexpected. Completely unique to them.
And perhaps . . .
that will change, move, push, ignite or break something inside. Giving them permission to explore. To risk.
To pick something up. And meet a challenge.
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harbour -
push -
launch -
avenue -
foxy -
ted -
arctic -
lift -
dynamite -
matt -
not science -
j.hughes -
such a pretty face -
picayune -
plus one -
turning -
proof -
haywire -
envy -
step on it -
rats -
mayim bialik -
incorporated -
dinosaurs -
zed -
the cracks -
continuum -
she approves -
new york -
shakedown -
and -
they missed her -
superfly -
panda -
four -
commission1 -
commission 2
BIO BIO
Listen.
You have to really, really listen.
The world is noisy and add to that the noise we have in our own heads - it’s a wonder we hear anything at all.
As I was approaching my 40th year, I decided to take a look at how I was spending the bulk of my time. Turns out it was doing work that neither inspired or challenged me. So I decided to do something about it. I quit.
The problem was, this work gave me a good paycheck, security, co-workers who I love and the ability to afford the life my family and I enjoy. But I could not shake the voice inside me that was telling me to quit. To do the things I wanted to do. To spend my time pursuing the creative gifts I’ve been given and not waste them in an office job that left me feeling unfulfilled.
Listen.
I took 6 months to think. To challenge myself. Paying attention to what I was hearing and seeing around me, what others were saying, what was bringing me life, what seemed to be generating energy and what I felt was resonating the most. I talked to trusted friends, sent up a prayer or two, started pursuing my passions more diligently and welcomed creative opportunities in my life. The answer soon became incredibly clear.
Listen.
Actually making the decision was difficult. For me and for my family. Letting go of a secure branch without another one to grab on to is . . . challenging to say the least. But I knew, we knew, that it had to be done.
So I did. And it felt . . . exhilarating. And freeing. And like anything is possible. Because it is.
If we listen we can hear the person inside us that the world wants to know. That the world needs to know. Because that person was created with a purpose and fulfilling it will drive out fear, ignite passion and release you into the freedom of being. You.
I’m a 40 year old artist with a wife, two kids, lots of bills and no steady income.
But I will keep listening. And things will be fine. And I will love and be loved. And I will paint.
And no matter what happens, I will passionately pursue the life I believe I’m meant to live and trust that it will matter. Because the world needs to know me.
And the world needs to know you too.
Michael Soltis has a B.A. in Communications, a M.Ed. in Adult Education Administration and has been a senior leader in marketing, communication and operations for over 10 years. At age thirty he quit his job to pursue an acting career. After a few years and several appearances in film and on television, the birth of two children lured him back into the steady paycheck arms of the business world. Until age forty, when he quit his job again to pursue a career as a visual artist. Michael’s creativity has been evident in all of his endeavors but has found a home in his paintings.
Michael is now a painter. And he couldn’t be happier.
michael soltis
born: minot, ND
resides: vancouver, BC
2 kids, one wife
height: 6 ft
shoe: 12
