Artist/Teacher Santa Cruz, California
An all around artist and popular teacher, M.E. "Mike" Bailey's skillful mastery of form and color is evident in his award-winning work. Mike is the incoming president of the National Watercolor Society. "My art is about happiness!" That is to say, it is about his own happiness, says Bailey. "I started painting at age 46, which is sort of late for someone who was hungry to paint all of his life, wouldn’t you say? " He explained that even though his college degree is not in art, he is primarily self taught. Driven and deeply passionate about it, Bailey refers to himself as "compulsive about painting." "I paint because I have to. I teach because I want to spread the joy I have derived from being a painter." Bailey has a number of accomplishments to his credit in the art world. He has won awards and nods from around the country for his work and has been featured in Watercolor, The Palette and Watercolor Artist Magazines and featured in a few books on the subject of watercolor. His pieces have found their way into corporate collections and private collections throughout the US, Europe and Australia. Always reaching to attain new levels of growth, he is continually experimenting and testing his limits and his visions. "I think desire is ninety percent of talent." He says, "You are only as good as the amount of painting experience you accumulate. A lot of experience in anything leads to wisdom about that thing." So, he paints almost daily. Whether it is abstract studio work or casual plein air outings, Mike finds it difficult to point to a favorite subject or style. Never satisfied, he works to continuously expand his range, always pushing to the limits of what he believes to be "good work" and presses to experiment and make "not seen before" work. Considered to be a very gifted teacher in the field of art, he teaches workshops throughout the U.S. and Europe. His workshops are intense, hilarious and full of motivation and support. His course, "Watercolor Beyond the Obvious," is a rigorous path of experimentation and development of a personal painting series over ten weeks. The course is an exploration of design and a discovery of personal, artistic breakthroughs. He lives with his wife Diana in Santa Cruz, California and is a member of many art associations in Central California. Mike is a signature member of and the incoming President of National Watercolor Society for 2010 and 2011. His work and contact info can be seen atwww.mebaileyart.com and http://www.mebaileyart.blogspot.com. Visit Mike's website: www.mebaileyart.com
