Mike is originally from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. After graduating in 1982 from Parkside High School in Salisbury, Maryland, he sought the culture and lights of the big city and entered the Maryland Institute College of Art, in Baltimore, Maryland. His interest, education, and artwork spanned the ancient and classical to the most modern and abstract. The artist received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (cum laude) from there in May 1986 and graduated in the top ten percent of the class.

Always fond of beautiful scenery and bitten by wanderlust, Mike moved to Austin, Texas, to paint the raw, jutting rock formations, and cacti-dotted landscape of Texas' hill country.

Upon accepting a full scholarship to attend American University in Washington, D.C., he travelled back to the east coast, excited about graduate school and living in a city with world-class art museums. After two years of study, Mike earned a Master of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting in May 1989.

Besides the generous scholarship from American University, the artist won many other awards and scholarships throughout his education, and, most notably, he was chosen as an art finalist (1 of 5) in the state-wide Maryland Distinguished Scholar Program during his senior year of high school (the only student from his graduating class of nearly 300 to win first place and a four-year scholarship in any category in the competition). And for his senior year of college, Mike received the William Ferguson Merit Scholarship from the Maryland Institute, the highest award given then in the major of general fine arts.

After seven years in three cities, Mike sought the quality of life at Delmarva's beautiful beach resorts. He currently lives on Delmarva and drives frequently to Delmarva's beach resorts to enjoy the lively atmospheres of the seaside towns.

The artist's primary concerns are with psychological movement, strong color, spontaneity, brightness, painterly brushstrokes, decorative patterns, and fleeting moments.