Michael “Spike” Lewis, an artist in Salem, Ore., is largely
self-taught. A graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., Lewis was a journalist by trade, retiring in February 2007.
While he took art classes at Marshall University to finish his undergraduate degree work, he never majored in art. Lewis moved to Oregon in February 1976. He soon came across portraiture classes taught by Jo Ann Bentley, a Salem portrait artist. During the several years that he took classes from Bentley, Lewis also studied the work of American illustrator Norman Rockwell and sought to emulate him. Another influence on his portrait style was Rembrandt.
Lewis works almost exclusively in oil, though he has worked in acrylics. Some of his earlier work in acrylics is shown on the Acrylic’s page of the Web site.
While working for the Statesman Journal, Lewis had the opportunity to do several cover illustrations for the paper’s Sunday magazine, Oregon Territory, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Several of those illustrations are featured on the Web site.
Around 2000, Lewis discovered the work of Douglas Simonson, an artist in Honolulu, Hawaii, who concentrates on the male nude form. Simonson is the foremost American master of this painting genre today. Simonson’s Web site is www.douglassimonson.com.
Simonson has inspired Lewis to return to painting after a break of nearly 25 years.
Lewis, who is gay, is working on is the “Pride Series.”
He also does logo design work, most recently creating a variety of logo designs for Salem’s Triangle Community Web site ⎯ www.trianglecommunity.org.
While Lewis doesn’t concentrate on commissioned portraiture, he will accept commissions. If you’re interested in commissioning him for a portrait, contact him via e-mail at commissions@mlastudio.com.
Visit the artist’s personal Web site at www.spikeville.com.
