Collaboration

If you would like to collaborate please message me or @micahshull_painter in your instagram post. I would love to work with you.

Education

I earned my first bachelor's degree from San Francisco State University in drawing and painting, worked in restaurant kitchens for a few years then returned to painting. I started a series of plein-air paintings along the steep cliffs overlooking the Golden Gate, selling my work to locals. I moved on to neighborhood street scenes then finally downtown Market Street, the Ferry Building, and particularly the Farmers Market. 

Italy

Rather than pursue a master's degree I moved to Rome to learn from the masters. In the mornings I would paint the farmers market in Campo de’ Fiori then sketch sculptures in churches in the afternoon. I lived near Saint Peters, so I visited the Vatican frequently. While I was immersed in the artistic riches of Rome I painted all the little backstreets, bridges, and fountains I could find. The Italian people were so incredibly warm and welcoming, they bought all the paintings I could produce. 

After six months I traveled to Florence, Bologna, Venice, and finally, Cinque Terre where I lived in Riomaggiore for almost two years. The boats beneath the villages and vineyard-laced cliffs were the perfect combination of surf and turf for a young painter to polish his craft. Plus the most amazing seafood market was in La Spezia was just over the mountain by train.

Data Science

When I returned to San Francisco, Figurative art was out and I couldn’t get gallery representation so I returned to San Francisco State to study Finance and an emerging new career path, Data Science. I earned my BS in both and have been a  Data Scientist ever since. However, I was laid off this winter for the fourth time in five years and so I am pursuing painting because Data science is not providing me the secure career path I expected. 

Inspiration

I have focused on painting throughout my career but the Modern Women/Modern Visions at the Denver Art Museum last summer really opened my eyes to photography’s ability to capture emotion, particularly the human condition, anxiety, insecurity, and suffering.  The work of Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, Cindy Sherman, Rineke Dijkstra, and Carrie Mae Weems was a major turning point for my own work. I wanted to convey a sense of desperation, isolation, and suffering. The photography of these women gave me a strong sense that conveying empathy for the subject has a place in art history.