Mike Stead: Out of the Shadows

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Mike Stead (aka Mike Bliss) was born in Hartlepool in 1976 to an army family. He inheritedfrom his Mother & Father a strong work ethic and morality that has produced a prolific and dedicated artist. He spent his childhood in places like Bangkok, Hong Kong, London & Germany. He has always drawn & painted. He was a painfully shy child who invented his own world to escape into, drawing beautiful people to be his play mates.

 
''Happy'' by Mikesbliss (acrylic)

 
''Valentine'' by Mikesbliss (acrylic)

 
''Better days'' by Mikesbliss (Ink Drawing)

 
''Memory bliss'' by Mikesbliss (acrylic)

 
''Intimacy'' by Mikesbliss (acrylic)

 
''Hot'' by Mikesbliss (acrylic)

 
''The one'' by Mikesbliss (Ink Drawing)

 
''Memory bliss'' by Mikesbliss (Ink Drawing)

 
''Thrown away'' by Mikesbliss (Ink Drawing)

He moved to London in the summer of 2002 after a serious gay bashing incident in Hartlepool. He decided that he could either be a victim or refuse to allow the brutality of the attack to dictate his future. He bought a one way ticket and got off the bus in Victoria with £50 in his pocket and nowhere permanent to live. This was nearly seven years ago. From then to now Mike has managed to exhibit all over London from Cork Street to Covent Garden as well as at the Adonis Art Gallery. He works on his portfolio as well as undertaking private commissions - a testament to his dedication, hard work & self belief.

Mike studied fashion in Edinburgh and this design background is evident in the illustrative nature of his work, also providing him with an ability to understand that being a good artist is rarely enough to be successful: you also need to be able to sell yourself and know your audiences' tastes and needs.

Mikesbliss first exhibited at the Adonis Art Gallery in 2006. That exhibition explored very different themes to this one, such as happiness, love, hope & well being. The last exhibition was the exact opposite, dealing. with grief, loss, heartbreak & hopelessness.

The seeds of this radical departure was what can only be described as a nervous breakdown. The shift in subject matter was necessary to visualise the battle to regain his mental health. His life was drained of colour so he extracted it from his palette too.

https://adonisartgallery.3dcartstores.com/Mikesbliss_c_148-1-0.html

http://www.mikesbliss.com/

More Artists at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Art

Comments

[bean-montag.livejournal.com]

Wow.... love them!! The style reminds me of these kits I'd buy at Tar-jay when I was a kid--they'd come with markers and were usually scenes of unicorns or kittens or dinosaurs or something, and were partly made of black felt, but you could color in the white parts however you liked.

Only these are, obviously, like way more sexy. Oh my oh my. Fabulous!!

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Yes, also I like the apparently innocence of the figure, and you have to focus and find the sexiness hidden in the black and white. Elisa

[a-j-mirag.livejournal.com]

I like the drawings! They are sweet, and sexy, too.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Yes, they are apparently simple, but very sexy. Elisa

[lab-jazz.livejournal.com]

For some strange reason I'm not seeing the images, just little red crosses. I see images elsewhere on LJ, just not on your journal :(

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Sorry, my Website is migrating in another server and the images are unavailable... wise choice to migrate during the day :-( But it's not my choice. I will try to upload the image somewhere else.

Come back in an half an hour or so.

Sorry, Elisa

[zamaxfield.livejournal.com]

I think I like the one called Intimacy best. For something so simple it's absolutely amazing how powerfully it evokes faith and love and longing. So beautiful.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I had to replace the image with smaller size. As soon as my website will be available again, I will replace them with the bigger ones. Some details are better in big.

Elisa