Michael Strauss is a watercolor painter who lives
in South Burlington, Vermont. For many years he taught chemistry at
the University of Vermont. In recent years he has been teaching art
classes at the university, and now paints full time at home in his studio.
He describes his early years and his painting below.
"The first really detailed drawings I ever made (at
about age 10) were of crystals, insects and shells. As a youngster I was
an avid collector of such things on California beaches, in the Sierras and
in fields and backyards of my childhood home. The drawings and collections
aren’t around anymore, only recollections of them. For me drawing has
always been a form of visual reasoning and a powerful and provocative way
of knowing the world. I can't remember a time when I wasn't drawing
or painting.
The principles of composition, perspective, light and
shadow - the visual thinking I do to create and compose a landscape painting
- are in part related to what I do in the college classroom. Representing
a three dimensional molecule on a two dimensional surface is much like representing
a real landscape in a two dimensional drawing or painting. Both require
thinking with shapes, and the same tools of perspective, shading and color
can be used in both. One can compose representations of each in pleasing
or displeasing ways. The subjects I love most are the rural landscapes
near my home in Vermont. I’ve finally come round to being my 10 year
old self again, drawing and painting the things I collect, the images in
my journal, sketch book and 40 megabyte memory card of my digital camera.
Those who have had the greatest impact on my drawing/painting
life are artists Ronald Swanwick in Herefordshire, England, Eli Schwartz
and Ottavio Gandolfi in Jerusalem, Israel, and Cynthia Debenedetti in Woodside,
California. I owe these people a great deal for encouraging me to explore
both technique and subject matter."