Michael Mcfadden

About Michael Mcfadden

Michael McFadden is a ﬁne artist, master craftsman, and educator. A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Mr. McFadden studied at Carleton College, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin where he received his MFA.

In 1978 Michael established an art studio and ﬁne furniture workshop in the Tribeca area of New York City. In 1987 Michael and his wife Doris Ettlinger, also an artist and educator, moved their studios to an 18th Century grist mill in western New Jersey where they raised their two children, Ivy and Benjamin. Recently Michael re)red from teaching engineering, architecture, and ﬁne art at Hunterdon Central High School.

Michael’s images are inventions based on memory and imagination. He transforms his personal experience of poignant events into abstract images. Michael’s paintings are constructed from a personalized vocabulary of marks and shapes. He creates a visual environment that invites exploration. His color harmonies, composition, and calligraphic brush work result in expressive, high contrast images that engage the viewer through shared impressions and experience.

Artist Statement

PROCESS-How I make art.
When an idea or image captures my imagination, I save it in a sketch. If an idea has potential, I develop it using more sketches and collages. I use collage as a means for expression and discovery, it helps me ﬁnd what I otherwise might not imagine. Using ink and watercolor on rice paper fragments, I build a vocabulary of abstract parts. The parts are used to ﬁnd images and build a composition. Each image is the product of many decisions. By making choices I ﬁnd and express myself. I value honesty and transparency as I make these choices. I favor intuition, improvisation and accidental discovery while composing. As the image develops the parts are glued into place to form a structure for the painting. The collage may be part of a painting or the subject of a painting.

SUBJECTS – What do I paint?
I work to share my experience of poignant places and events using abstract images. The images are invented using memory, imagination, and shared experiences. I work with personal and traditional themes which I repeatedly explore. I prefer subjects which I experience emotionally. My work is meant to evoke emotions and intensify memory by compressing time and space. I hope that its meaning is completed by the viewer’s own associations.

WHY – Do I paint?
I paint for knowledge and pleasure. I am happiest when using my mind and my hands. I use my mind to discover problems and my hands to solve them. The challenge I enjoy the most is to making something out of nothing, to ﬁnd meaning. My emotional response to places and events motivates me to re-imagine them in poignant images. The riverside environment where I work often provides inspiration. I also enjoy reimagining traditional themes, like a jazz musician playing standards.

New Brunswick Art Salon 2021 Fall Watercolor and Mixed Media Exhibition