Early Years
Michael was raised in the town of Lakeside in San Diego County, California. His parents, David and Sandy were his early encouragement into the world of the arts to help with his diagnosis of dyslexia in grade school. The tutoring classes to assist with school work provided the support for development of his artistic skills, which let him to always travel with paper and canyons, which has now become a notebook and pen. The early drawings from Michael were brilliantly colored which have carried over to his paintings of today
Painting Style and Evolution
Michael’s painting style can be described as an amalgamation of avant-garde, abstract expressionism and impressionism. His early paintings focused on evaluated textured square brush strokes and have evolved into a more flowing brush stroke. In explaining this evolution, Michael has stated that the key is to not to have an overdone painting and to stop when you don’t know where to put the next brush stroke. In addition, to not have a fear of scraping paint off the canvas to obtain a new reflection because if it’s not correct, you can also paint over the image which is a benefit of working with oil-based paints.
Personal Life and Family
While in art school, Michael met his wife Mel and remembers the introduction to her parents in which he was introduced as a painter which required the quick-thinking explanation of a painter of art and not the painter of houses. Michael and Mel now have three children, Emmitt, Everett and Lida, and make their home in El Cajon, California. Michael has taken over a room in the house as his studio which allow him the paint at any hour of the day, be with the family and drive the kids to and from school to keep his world properly balanced. We should not forget Tex, the family dog and Cosmo, the family cat that can add a special touch to any original painting with some cat hair for that special accent.
Art School and Awards
Michael attended the San Francisco Academy of Art University, this began the journey into all artistic styles and media by attending as many classes as possible to learn and develop as an artist. He has stated at many art shows over the years that you must continue to develop your talent, style and images as this constant learning will feed your desire to enhance your skills and paintings. In Michael’s final school year, he received the Herman Lambert Scholarship at the New York Society of Illustrators and was selected to display his art at the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum exhibition in San Francisco. Upon graduation, Michael travelled to Europe to continue his inspiration in the urban culture and nightlife which developed his signature central figure in his paintings of the woman in the red dress or red umbrella. That woman just happens to his wife Melissa (Mel).
Today
Michael’s artwork can be found in galleries across the United States and in Canada. In San Diego, he can be found in cafés and in an urban setting with his notebook, pen and camera trying to capture the next moment that combines color and lighting for the inspiration for his next painting or sketch.
Michael is represented by Crown Thorn Publishing based in San Diego, the publisher of his limited edition mixed media prints with artist embellishments.
“All I do is paint everyday. It’s an obsession, I can’t stop,” says Michael Flohr, a San Diego artist whose modern impressionist paintings of bar and cafe scenes and rainswept city streets offer a social commentary. In a way, Michael paints, rather than writes, his social commentary. “I am not the best writer,” he admits. “I have these great thoughts and they come out better on canvas than as written words on paper.” His bold, square brush strokes create almost a mosaic effect that tells the viewer a narrative through vivid, pure pigmented color, gesture, and subtlety.
When he was young, Flohr was diagnosed with dyslexia, and by second grade he had fallen behind in school. As a result, his parents signed him up for tutoring across all subjects, including art. It was here he excelled and felt his most self.
He would end up attending the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. Encouraging him in his pursuit, his grandfather promised to pay half his college loans upon graduation. “It showed me he believed in me,” Flohr reminisced. In his final year at the academy he was accepted into New York’s Society of Illustrators.
Flohrs style has been described as a cornucopia of avante garde, abstract expressionism, and impressionism. He finds inspiration in the colors and techniques of Cezanne, who painted with pure pigment straight from the tube, in a style that Michael Flohr’s work emulates.
“I want to show that a painting doesn’t have to be challenging. It can be something that pleases your eye. It doesn’t have to have meaning. You don’t have to dissect it. Enjoy its beauty and what it brings to you.”
