Passage

OUT OF THE SHADOWS

OUT OF THE SHADOWS With this painting I revisit themes developed in my “Passage” series, featured heavily in my first couple of one-man shows at the Tree’s Place gallery. All of the Passage works use the dream-object of the lighted bubbles—symbols of spirit or unfettered...

BROKEN CHAIN

BROKEN CHAIN A simple composition with a fairly simple message. On our way to the next plane, we leave behind earthly pleasures and some small marks on our environment.

CROSSING

CROSSING The uncertainty of and inescapable attraction to the concept of life after death.

PRESENCE

PRESENCE Originally done as a large color study for another painting, it has become a favorite of mine just as it is.

LAST HILL

LAST HILL As a transplanted Californian, each year I am transfixed by the fall colors near my home in Connecticut and I created this for the title page of my book THE ART OF MICHAEL WHELAN.

LEAVETAKING

LEAVETAKING Michael planned for this piece to be a large “preliminary” to a new work in his Passage series that he would paint in oils. He doesn’t usually use models; he prefers to create a person who fits exactly into his scene and he always paints alone, but...

PASSAGE: THE RAINBOW

PASSAGE: THE RAINBOW The surface meaning of my Passage paintings is technical—it signifies a passage from working nearly exclusively in acrylics to attaining a greater technical flexibility in oils. In spite of my resolution I painted this in acrylics, because I saw the sky in a dream as...

PASSAGE: VERGE

PASSAGE: VERGE A painting with many meanings, but the most obvious one deals with the question of the woman taking a last look back before she decides to step off the cliff and go through the arch to an afterlife-or does she turn around and stay? Michael doesn’t like to say,...

PASSAGE: THE AVATAR

PASSAGE: THE AVATAR Initially inspired by a few notes from a Pink Floyd instrumental track, THE AVATAR came to Michael while he was floating in a sensory deprivation tank. He was seeking “mental breathing space” and wanted to create a focal point in his home for meditation, a...

PASSAGE: THE RED STEP

PASSAGE: THE RED STEP I was probably clinically depressed when I painted this, because I was experiencing my first artistic block. I had been working non-stop as a professional illustrator for almost 15 years and until then I had never been without an idea for how to tackle an assignment....

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