by Michael Whelan | Jul 5, 2021
The paintings in The End of Nature series are concerned with our relationship to the environment and how we need to care for it. Here, the young boy takes a moment to just enjoy it. This began as a doodle in one of my pocket sketchbooks over ten years ago, and the...
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 2011
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 2006
A study done at the time I painted END OF NATURE VII, later finished to become a new small painting in its own right. If only she indulged in a little self-examination, she would know that she carries the means to a new beginning on her own shoulders.
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 2005
Up until this point in my End of Nature series, I had portrayed the people who represent humanity in general as somewhat oblivious to the support that nature was providing for them. When I began this painting I thought of the figure as a person mislead by folly,...
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 2002
A cautionary, “All good things come to an end…” While she dances away her day, the ground which supports her erodes into nothingness.
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 2001
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 2000
The title is meant as a double-entendre of sorts, something I enjoy doing with my personal work. It is meant to suggest that there may be more than one level of meaning in a work, whatever series it may belong to.
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1999
The fourth of my End of Nature paintings. The figure is stranded on a pillar of human folly, looking up to a symbol of technology—the lamppost for her deliverance from the perils signaled by the oncoming storm. Will Science light the way to the future?
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1998
The first in what became a series of paintings about our relationship with nature. All the figures are supported by nature, but the support is eroding and in danger of giving way completely if we don’t pay attention and nurture it. Simply put, if nature falls we...
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1998
My obvious concern for future generations is highlighted by the mother and child.