Mike Chambers Art

Artists I love

An inspiring artist

My wife Sasi is an inspiring artist for me. But you already knew that if you know anything about us. She was the first real live artist I ever met way back in high school and I've been her #1 fan since then. Here's her…

Mike ChambersMarch 16, 2026

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

Christmas Linocut

Christmas Parade

Every year I get a little misty-eyed about Christmas and what it means to me. And so I get to share my feelings with friends and loved ones in the form of a little family vignette captured in a Christmas card. This year's card is…

Mike ChambersDecember 19, 2025

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

Drawing Muse

The Return of Queen Mab

This drawing reminds me of one I finished a couple years ago after a friend suggested an enchanting title. Queen Mab is a fairy described by Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. She rides through people's thoughts while they sleep, causing them to dream based on…

Mike ChambersMay 25, 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

Muse

Thank you, Alexa Rose!

The grant increased my understanding of the tools available to me and helped me to take ownership of my art business.

Mike ChambersMay 30, 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

Bikes

Linocut Bike

This is the bike linocut I made. This is the basic black and white image, but I'd like to explore other possibilities with color.

Mike ChambersApril 9, 2022

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