Artist Statement

Most of my life, including boyhood years on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and about 25 years in the Chicago area, has been spent living on, or near, Lake Michigan. My career before oil painting can be summarized thusly: graduate of Valparaiso (Indiana) High School and Missouri Journalism School; Air Force veteran; newspaper reporter; various communications and management jobs; and ultimately, 28 years building, operating, and consulting to golf courses.

I retired in 2013, and married my wife, Durenda, that same year. We live in Holland, Michigan, along what is known as Lake Michigan’s “Art Coast.” Before we met, Durenda was a partner in two Michigan art galleries, so (fortunately) she knows how to deal with artists.

I almost always had oil paints and an easel somewhere around the house, and I would finish a painting every so often, but I never had the time to really focus on my painting. For the past ten years, I have been making up for lost time.

When people discover that I am an artist, they often say, ‘It must be wonderful to have talent,’ although I am not so sure about the “talent” aspect. I may have some latent creative tendencies, but frankly, art is like most endeavors - you just need to keep working at it and trying to get better. Time will tell, I guess.

At the risk of sounding mercenary, my greatest satisfaction as an artist comes when someone buys one of my paintings. It is flattering, frankly, and after so many years in business, making a sale just seems like the natural way to keep score.

And admittedly, I like knowing that oil paintings last a long time, and that 100 years from now, an art lover may see one of my paintings on a friend’s wall, and ask, “That’s a nice painting, is there a story behind it?”

-Michael Rippey