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M Schaefer Art Collections

Shop for artwork from M Schaefer based on themed collections. Each image may be purchased as a canvas print, framed print, metal print, and more! Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Artwork by M Schaefer

Each image may be purchased as a canvas print, framed print, metal print, and more! Every purchase comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

About M Schaefer

M Schaefer JUST WHO DO I THINK I AM?
A second generation Central CA coast-er, I was able to expand my horizons while living 16 years, in No. CA, OR, TX, and NM, with some playful jaunts to Alaska, Jamaica, and Europe. Wherever we traveled, art was always a part of our lives, from my husband's beautiful music (he plays a bajillion instruments) to just watching the play of light as it danced through the lives of the people, culture, and flora.

After being so busy working on our land and in many other endeavors I'd drifted away from painting on a regular bases. Then, some years later, I re-found my love of the brush in one of our job related travels in Santa Fe, NM. The vibrant colors of that area so captivated me that I was driven to load my brush and drag it across the canvas over in the attempt to capture the richness of color and the pulse and flow of the diverse New Mexican culture.


SO, WHERE DID IT ALL START?
My very earliest foray into wall painting, as a toddler, is something we probably shouldn't discuss but since I was old enough to hold a pencil I was drawing on any scrap of paper I could find. While some kids had imaginary friends I worked out my problems with captions and cartoon figures in a quiet area of the classroom or home. My drawings weren't very good but it was how I processed the world.

Notes from teachers, about my artwork, were not uncommon and would usually read something like this, "Please finish your homework before you start drawing on it."

Well, one day, after years of taking every art class in school -- about 27 years ago -- I walked into a night school class being taught by Shirley Wallace, an amazing pallet knife painter. Shortly after starting the class I began to feel a deep kinship both with acrylic painting and with my dear teacher, Shirley.


WHAT MAKES AN ARTIST?
Everyone is an artist; we can all create something new and different. The only difference in who one calls an 'artist', is their inner desire to create, every single day. This desire to create drives the artist to attempt to capture and put into words, music, paint, etc. the world they see or hear. Each person sees the world in a unique way; I think the difference with a visual artist is that their brain doesn't see the construct as much as they see the play of light and shadow. In other words, whereas most would notice the object first, a visual artists might see the negative space around or in relationship to the object first.

We each have that special something, a proclivity that makes us who we are. The life I've lived from a child to the woman I am today has allowed me to see so clearly, from many walks of life. Like one of my favorite writers, Steinbeck, I've learned to see the richness even within the poverty; like O'Keeffe I've learned to see the vibrant tapestry of color, beyond the constructs of the object; and, like my natural proclivity, I now accept that which is often hidden to the eye.

It is through the influence of the people who raised me, my native roots, my teachers, and my favorite famous people: John Steinbeck, Kahlil Gibran, Georgia O'Keeffe, Ghandi, and Bruce Lee (did I forget to mention I'm a bit eccentric) that I've learned to see the world though prism glasses not just rose colored glasses but glasses that reflect/refract every color of the rainbow. Thus I call my business, Bohemian Spirit because, well it is who I am.

Peace and light,
Michelle