J.Michael Gaitlin

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The joy of being able to bring the beauty of the three-dimensional world onto a piece of
paper has captivated Michael as long as he can remember. It began when sketchbooks
replaced coloring books as a child, and was reinforced with art supplies set up right next
to his grandmother’s easel in the attic of an old farm house in Tangent, Oregon.
He began studying seriously with the figurative watercolorist, James Kirk at Western
Oregon State College. And continued with another great watercolorist, Irving Shapiro at
the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Illinois. Michael was also deeply influenced by
the watercolor work of John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Sir William Russell Flint,
Andrew Wyeth, Burton Silverman, Charles Reid, to name a few. It was with these mentors,
and many more along the way, that Michael developed a strong love for and facility with
watercolor as his primary medium.
One of the most impressive things about Michael’s watercolor technique is his ability to
use a smooth surface, such as the Strathmore 500 series, one-hundred percent archival
cotton, plate-finished, bristol board for many of his paintings. This smooth, barely
absorbent surface highlights the natural fluidity of the medium. An expressive splashing of
paint can often be seen in his under painting. While this surface also presents several
challenges to watercolor, Michael’s experienced touch can easily be seen in the sometimes
subtle and other times bold brushstrokes that make up his work.
Michael is not limited by subject matter, and continues to paint everything from vast
landscapes to individual objects; urban and small town scenes; still life’s, portraits and
figurative work—no subject matter is off limits. He’s just looking for a bit of beauty that
captures his imagination. You’ll notice that he often works in a series of paintings as he’s
exploring one of many themes: the reflective surface of water, for instance; or various
objects he's collected along the way. or the laugh lines which have developed on the faces of his family and friends.
Michael’s work has been collected both publicly and privately since the 1980’s, and is a
part of many collections throughout America and in the UK.
Corporate and Museum Collections include:the College of St Thomas, Counseling Center;
IBM, St. Paul, MN Executive Lounge; and the permanent collection of The Minnesota
Museum of American Art.
Michael’s paintings and drawings have also been used for many illustration clients
including: an extensive advertising campaign for Lee Jeans; an illustrated book for Rapala
Fishing Lures; Discover Card; and the PBS science show series, Newton’s Apple.