We recently connected with Michael Garfoot and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Most of my learning came through Universities, professors, colleagues, personal research, trying new techniques and processes, and making all kinds of mistakes. Each new skill and idea builds on itself and informs the next move, creating a breadcrumb trail from one series to the next. It’s important for me to continue to push myself and try new things in order to continue my artistic growth.
After my years as an undergraduate, I moved from Wisconsin to California which slowed my artistic practice substantially at first. It took 6 years between graduation and the start of my master’s program, due to a number of reasons – finding a way of earning money, a group of trusted friends, a place to make work, creating a consistent habit of working on art, etc. I don’t know if I would do things differently, but making a move across the country without a prospective job, way of earning income, or enrollment at a school/university took a toll that was difficult to dig myself out of. After a great amount of hard work and dedication I found myself with a body of work worthy of graduate program applications, and things started to fall into place.
I honestly think the most essential skill for maintaining an art practice, for myself, is making time to be in the art studio. At this point in my life, I have to continue a full-time job while focusing on my artwork. That is no easy task! Finding energy, drive, focus, and inspiration to consistently make work is vital if you want to continue making artwork on a serious level.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The path I have taken is a long and winding one. I was born and raised in Southern Wisconsin before attending the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where I earned a BFA in Graphic Design and Painting in late 2007. I had not taken any art classes throughout my first years in Oshkosh, as I was a music major, looking to get into recording and performance. I had no idea I had talent in visual arts. My desire for majoring in music waned and I moved from a variety of majors, as many young adults do. I found myself liking the idea of being a graphic designer, and my first year went very well. At Oshkosh, they required two painting courses as a prerequisite for a graphic design major, which I was not at all happy about. It was a week or two before that semester was to begin when I received the worst phone call of my life. My mother called saying my father had passed away in a car accident on his way home from work. I chose to stay enrolled in school to keep busy and maintain some sort of normalcy as I trudged through those first months without him. So I found myself in the first painting class as a somber, deflated 21 year old kid who would rather design things on his computer or play music with friends than haphazardly move paint across a canvas. But after a couple paintings, something clicked. A light turned on and I found myself falling in love. Painting became a way to process the pain brought on by my father’s passing and, in turn, became my greatest passion. After one semester, I added Painting as a major and it has been with me ever since. Painting continues to be an outlet for processing life, a way to describe what words cannot, and to be my therapeutic outlet.

I have created all kinds of paintings, but at this point in life I am creating landscape and portraiture to reconnect with the joy and innocence of childhood as middle age slowly tightens its grip. These works explore self image, memory, and nostalgia as life increasingly blurs the line between the physical and virtual worlds. Aside from my general body of work, I also take on commissions that range from portraits of loved ones and pets, to landscapes, to sports stadiums.

My ability to capture the feeling of a moment, person, or thing is what sets me apart from other artists. Paintings have the ability to transcend something like a photo; they can come to life. I believe my works capture not only the look of something, but the feeling or aura of a moment in time. One commission that I often reflect upon is when I was asked to make a painting of a person’s father who had recently passed away. When giving them their completed piece, they broke down into tears telling me they felt like he was back in the room with them. It makes me so happy to have helped them continue the memory of their father.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think one thing that many non-creatives struggle with understanding is the time that it can take to not only create one piece of work, but the time it takes to learn and hone one’s skills and craft. The value of a given artwork has so many layers built into it; there is the time and materials it takes to create the piece you purchased, but also all the time and effort it has taken to get to that point. When you buy someone’s art, you are purchasing a culmination of hundreds or thousands of hours working in their studio. You are purchasing all the research they’ve done learning about various techniques, all the history they’ve learned about the artists that came before them as well as their contemporaries. You are purchasing the canvases that have been thrown away, the painted over works, all of the struggles, the victories. You are purchasing a part of that artist.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part, for me, is when I get to be in the room when one sees my work for the first time. I love seeing their eyes grow larger and brighter as they discover something that wasn’t seen upon first glance. It’s the conversations that happen as memories and thoughts pour into the viewer’s mind while gazing at my work. I have a vision or a seed of an idea when creating, but it takes on a new life when in the eyes of another person – and that is magical to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://michaelgarfoot.com
• Instagram: @mwgarfoot
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-garfoot-a1ab6142/
• Twitter: @mgarfoot

Image Credits

All images are of original oil paintings made my Michael Garfoot. If you have questions about their titles, please reach out or visit michaelgarfoot.com to find more info.