by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 2014
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... 
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1998
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. 
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1997
The uncertainty of and inescapable attraction to the concept of life after death. 
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1992
Originally done as a large color study for another painting, it has become a favorite of mine just as it is. 
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1992
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. 
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1992
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... 
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1991
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... 
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1989
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,... 
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1988
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... 
by Michael Whelan | Jan 1, 1988
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.... 