Check Out Michael Mason’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Mason.

Hi Michael, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
When I was 13 my family took a trip to Denver, CO where we visited the Denver Art Museum. I can still remember thinking to myself during our visit that I was going to be an artist one day. However, it wasn’t until I was in my early 30s that I would start making art. In 1991, I was living in Huntington Beach, CA when I began making monotype prints on paper using acrylic ink and pieces of glass or Plexiglas as printing plates.

I also made handmade paper, using an old blender to create pulp out of drawing paper, brown paper bags, and old cotton T-shirts. I made my own molds and deckles, which I used for pulling pulp from a tub of water to form sheets of paper. I printed or embossed designs on the paper and eventually sold a few. I started painting a couple of years later and realized some early success. I showed my work wherever I could – coffee houses, restaurants, and even a hair salon. I was invited to participate in a group show in 1997 at the former Marion Meyer Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA. Two years later, the universe had different plans for me. I stopped making art when I accepted a position at the University of California, Irvine where I spent four years developing and running an indoor rock climbing and outdoor adventure program for Campus Recreation (I have over 20 years of climbing experience).

In 2003, I followed my future wife from Irvine to Tucson where she attended graduate school. I’m a native Arizonan. I grew up in Douglas, so it was a bit of a homecoming for me.

I have a background in graphic design and in early 2004 began working remotely for a software company based in Redmond, WA. In 2008, I was laid off when the economy tanked. After freelancing for a couple of years, I went back to school to complete my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Arizona – Go CATS! I graduated in May of 2013 and later that year our daughter was born.

As a new stay-at-home dad, painting took a bit of a backseat. I managed to keep creating in my little home studio/office as time permitted and had pieces accepted into local shows, but my work lacked direction. I was reacting to the calls for art and creating work to fit the themes of the shows. In December 2020, I rented an art studio in Oro Valley and after several months of work, the Powell’s Prophecy series of paintings was born.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Self-doubt can be crippling. It can derail the creative process, and working through an episode can be difficult. Is my work headed in the right direction? Is my work good enough? Every artist wrestles with these questions at some point in their career.

Rejection is a fact of life in the arts, and I’ve had my share of submissions to shows rejected. It’s never a good feeling.

You put hours and hours if not days or weeks into creating a piece of art only to have someone reject it. You can’t let it get you down. You have to believe in your artistic vision and keep moving forward.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work with acrylic paints, water-based cold wax, and a variety of other dry media on canvas, cradled wood panels, and paper. I usually tack my canvas directly to the wall so that I have a firm surface to work against. I like to scrape and scratch back into the surface of the painting to reveal early layers of paint and working against a firm surface will prevent the canvas from stretching in unwanted ways. Once a painting is nearing completion or is finished, I’ll mount the canvas on stretcher bars. I use silicone-edged tools, palette knives, pieces of plastic, and metal spatulas to apply paint to the surface of the work, Unlike bristle brush, which usually require a vigorous cleaning with soap and water, I can wipe these tools clean, thus reducing my water footprint.

My current body of work, “Powell’s Prophecy” explores climate change and the diminishing water resources of the American west through the observations of John Wesley Powell, the second director of the U.S. Geological Survey (1881 – 1894). After surveying the West, Powell concluded that the region was too hot and too dry and advocated for strict conservation of water resources and regulated growth. Powell also believed that the borders of western states should have been drawn along watersheds (rivers and mountain ridges) rather than political boundary lines to prevent water from becoming a source of contention between states.

My work combines abstract representations of the bathtub ring, the white calcium carbonate deposits left behind as the water recedes at America’s second-largest reservoir, Lake Powell, with historical and contemporary images, text, and in some cases Morse Code. Through my work, I attempt to communicate the visionary thinking and prophetic words of Powell and comment on the uncertain future of water in the western United States.

“Powell’s Prophecy #9 – Uncertainty” was selected for inclusion in a touring exhibit called “Along The Colorado”. Artists from the seven Colorado River basin states were invited to submit work to this juried exhibition, and I was fortunate to have my work selected. The tour started at the Nevada Humanities Program Gallery in Las Vegas, NV, and then traveled to the Diana Berger Gallery at Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, CA. The tour concludes at the Vision Gallery in Chandler, AZ in the spring of 2023. I’m proud of this painting because it, along with all the other works in the exhibit, is helping to inform and hopefully motivate people to make changes in the way they think about and use water.

What sets me apart? Art and activism have been joined at the hip for a very, very long time. Through my art, I advocate for the conservation of our most precious natural resource – water.

What does success mean to you?
I would love to say selling lots of art, and that is one measure of success, but success for me is making work that informs, educates, and motivates change. The cherry is when someone thinks enough of my work to purchase it and hang it on their wall. And that does happen from time to time. Success is also loving what you do, and I love what I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.michaelbmason.com
• Instagram: @mbmason.art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mbmason.art/