Michael Protiva

"Life is a creative process and art is an extension of that process."

Michael Protiva's interest in art began while he was growing up in the tropics of Venezuela. He was inspired by nature's vast array of colors, textures, shapes, and forms. Experimenting with many media and styles, he developed a unique contemporary style and technique. Having painted professionally for over forty years, he currently works out of his studio/home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Protiva's technique employs oils, acrylics, air brushing, powdered pigments, modeling paste, and elements of macro photography in digital form. He works on an aluminum surface in or on layers of epoxy resin. Each layer is a canvas. The work has a dimensional quality and is quite luminous. The art piece is floated over an aluminum back plate. Each piece can take four weeks or longer to complete.

Protiva is primarily self-taught. Through experimentation, he developed his own unique method of painting. Each painting is a learning experience: what is learned from the painting just completed is applied to the next painting to be done. It is an ongoing process.

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Selected Exhibitions & Awards
Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA, 1986, 1995, 1998, 2001
Cherry Creek Art Festival, Denver, CO, 1998
Stanford University Exhibit, Palo Alto, CA, 2001
Ala Moana Center Exhibit, Honlulu, HI, 1981
Pacific Artists International Exhibit, Maui and Kona, HI, 1986
Fairmont Hotel Solo Exhibit, San Francisco, CA, 1986
Collections
Arnould Gallery, Marblehead, MA, 2014
St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, CA, 1986
Sugarman Peterson Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 2014