Painting in oil is a technology free expression of creativity. I relish the simplicity of painting over the technicalities of photographer or computer imaging. Paint brush to canvas with my own hands allows me more time to concentrate on aesthetic considerations. Which the depth of body and texture of oil color for me brings to life formations which photography can never do. My background is graphic design; composition and its role in communicating is extremely important.

This series "Urban Slice" reflects current visual journeys inspired by my travels and living spaces for the still unexplored, yet effective, evocations of the American city.

Each "Slice" strives to catch a building's historical and structural essence, by using varied thickness of coats of oil and medium, in deliberate combinations of light, color, background, shape, and texture, with a reason for every part. These elements, plus the architectural features and locations I paint, make each work uniquely frozen in time and space. "Urban Slices" may strike some viewers as vignettes of the past, but each work is absorbed in today's color palette.

Mike Welton Oil Paintings
These paintings continue "Urban Slice" - my series dedicated to capturing the disappearing inner city landscape. Here our American individuality is expressed in the houses and other structures. All seem doomed to be erased forever by cheaper, less durable, more homogenized environment. Some subjects don't exist anymore. Others can't be seen any longer from the angle I used.

I've always reflected on the aesthetics of my surroundings. I analyze architectural design of buildings several ways before deciding on the composition from which to work. Every piece combines a sensitive, substitutive use of structural features in the composition with my personal adaptation of color. (Rarely are the actual colors already in the subject.)

As a result, each piece captures the best architectural part (or combination of parts) which we pass by daily on the streets without noticing. Aesthetic design takes the viewer beyond mere depiction to evoke the beauty, the excitement, the individuality of the past.

I thrive on the dynamics of the one-on-one relationship of brush, canvas and paint. The dynamics of Urban Slice are manifest through the simple expression of light, shape, and color. Subtle to stark contrasts of my palette underline the excitement.

The excitement I preserve eventually may be torn down for a parking lot. Yet each composition reveals a kind of visual perfection, no longer easily found in just two adjacent city buildings, let alone one city block. Ultimately I hope, Urban Slice will inspire city neighborhoods to revitalize and preserve their individuality.

To a certain extent, I use the past to comment on the contemporary through the simple means of Fine Art. Each painting speaks to everyone's psyche, rather than just our minds.

The Eclectic Art & Objects Gallery is privileged to present recent works by Minneapolis artist Mike Welton. “Urban Slice: Dimensions in Structure” reflects Mike’s current visual journey inspired by his recent travels to Pittsburgh, New York and Chicago.