Painting – Mike Chambers Art

Painting of a plein air painter in the landscape

Landscape Painting

A Painting from the Land of Nod

If I could carry a painting of a dream in my pocket, it might look like this -- a tiny little 3 inch by 4 inch canvas showing a painter in a landscape. The image is a bit grainy. It's not quite realistic, is it?…

Mike ChambersMarch 4, 2026

Landscape Painting

Beginning Again

A long time ago I promised myself that I'd one day return to landscape painting. Have you ever made a promise to yourself? You gotta keep it! A couple weeks ago I bought a French easel, stocked it up with good brushes and paints and…

Mike ChambersOctober 6, 2025

Digital Art Figurative Painting

Soubrette

Leah, 2000 Soubrette, 2025 One of my favorite things to do is to read the Goings On section of the About Town page in the New Yorker. In this week's issue, I came across the word soubrette in a description of an actor's role in…

Mike ChambersJune 15, 2025

Digital Art Figurative Painting

From Bad Photo to Masterpiece: Fixing ‘Green Goddesses’

Green Goddesses, not a great photo Green Goddesses I was thinking about how to fix my painting Green Goddesses. I remembered reading a story about Jackson Pollock going into a house where someone had one of his paintings and he insisted on making corrections to…

Mike ChambersMay 17, 2025

Angels Bikes Digital Art Painting

If you look hard enough you’ll see angels

Do you ever wonder if there are angels among us? I do. The last time I saw one I was out on Shore Drive right by Lake Michigan. I looked over to a stretch of houses overlooking the water and she just flitted by on…

Mike ChambersApril 21, 2025

Angels Painting

A makeover for an angel

Every now and then we all need a refresh. A reboot. A return to who we are. And for paintings it might be called an art makeover. It happened just the other day with this angel. Cloud 8 Cloud 9 PURCHASE ON REDBUBBLE

Mike ChambersSeptember 22, 2023

Painting

I’m dreaming of Napoleon House

Napoleon House haunts me a little bit. It's situated in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans and, to all appearances, is nondescript -- maybe even a little bland looking. Old gray walls, a little worse for wear, an ancient sign is the…

Mike ChambersSeptember 11, 2023

Bikes Painting

Repetition in art: The Rutkowski Loop

Repetition makes my art better Repetition in art practice makes for good work. I owe it all to Walter Rutkowski. He was my professor at LSU who said something like this to me way back in my school days: "Nice work. Now draw it again…

Mike ChambersJune 5, 2022

Figurative Muse Painting

House Ghost

My paintings typically emerge slowly, they haunt me for a day or three or twenty-three until they suddenly freeze in their tracks, say boo! and -- eventually -- disappear.

Mike ChambersMay 31, 2022

Painting Studio

Eight Years Later: The Joy of Fresh Eyes

One of the great joys in life is having the chance to rework a painting after sleeping on it for about eight years. Here's a little painting I finished 8 years ago called 'Julie' (because it reminded me of Julie Andrews). Eight years gives you…

Mike ChambersMay 29, 2022

Figurative Interior Painting Work in process

A Wrestling Match: Layers, History, and the Truth of Painting

This is my artistic process: my paintings and drawings are the result of a wrestling match between me and the canvas. During this process I rework, erase, and even turn everything upside down to correct things, repaint and retry. One of the unexpected things that…

Mike ChambersMay 29, 2022

Five Happiness Easel, oil on canvas by Mike Chambers

Doors Interior Painting Stories Studio

The Easel: Where Art Work becomes Art Play

Five Happiness Easel, oil on canvas One of the quintessential tools for the visual artist is the easel. It is the structure that holds up the canvas while it morphs from stark and blank to refulgent with symbolism, meaning, technique, content, emotion, and -- sometimes…

Mike ChambersOctober 31, 2021

Interior Painting Stories

Composition is everything: Ocean Park Studio

What better way to acknowledge the impact on my work of Richard Diebenkorn's painting composition than painting about it? The Ocean Park series was completed during the 60s, 70s and 80s by this most illustrious artist. Composition is (arguably) everything in a two dimensional work…

Mike ChambersOctober 6, 2021

Doors Interior Painting Stories

The Tiny Door is a Symbol of New Beginnings

What's behind the symbolism of an open door? It can represent a new opportunity, a choice, a chance for a new beginning, or a passage to something different. When we "open the door" to new possibilities, we make a conscious decision to move from where…

Mike ChambersOctober 6, 2021

Exteriors Painting Stories

Boise Blue Art Supplies

Boise Blue was a downtown landmark that sold art supplies. It was for me what a candy store must have been to a child.

Mike ChambersOctober 4, 2021

Painting Work in process

The corner of the neighborhood

I'm thrilled and honored to be one of the artists selected this spring to design a traffic box skin for the City of Boise. This is my first public art commission. The box is located at the corner of Main and 23rd streets. It's in…

Mike ChambersJune 9, 2018

Exhibitions Painting

Ghost Hunting opens tonight!

You're invited to the opening reception of Ghost Hunting. Twenty-seven new works will be on display. The show is located at Evermore Prints, 780 W. Main Street in Boise. The opening reception is from 5 pm till 9 pm. Appetizers will be served and there's a…

Mike ChambersAugust 3, 2017

Spirit Lake #2, watercolor and ink, Michael Chambers

Painting

Watercolor play

Last weekend we were in Northern Idaho at Twin Lake, near Coeur d'Alene. It was great to relax and paint with a box of 99-cent watercolors and a ball-point pen I bought at a local drug store. Watercolor play works wonders on the soul. …

Mike ChambersAugust 26, 2016

Figurative Interior Painting

All the light

All the Light, oil on canvas, 48 x 60 inches My show at the Carol Robinson Gallery opens on May 7th. I delivered 11 new pieces to the gallery this week for the Houseghosts exhibition. I completed this painting in Old Algiers while staying for…

Mike ChambersApril 10, 2016

Figurative Painting

The Annunciation

This painting of the Annunciation was finished this week. It is based on a painting that I completed several years ago and purchased by my friend, Dan. The earlier painting served as the starting point for this piece. The Annunciation will be part in an exhibition in New Orleans in…

Mike ChambersJanuary 30, 2016