January 25, 2012

February's Artist of the Month

Michael Klafke is February's Artist of the Month at Elmaro. His art will be on display the whole month of February in Elmaro's Crush Pad.

Best known for his masterful bird art compositions and accurate portrail of animals, this gifted
artist resides in Western Wisconsin near the beautiful Mississippi River. Michael A. Klafke is a
graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His art experience is completely self-taught.
Painting nature has been a life-long process it is an active form of communication, a way of
sharing experiences with the outside world. Mike started out drawing at a young age along with
collecting insects and bird watching which later lead to his interest in the natural sciences. In the
early years, painting was a wonderful pastime, making time for it after school or work, but with
constant devotion to his art and the drive for improvement, he was able to begin painting full-time
in 1982.

Klafke’s many accomplishments include, six “Birds in Art” exhibitons at the prestigious Leigh
Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, Wisconsin. Other exhibits include the Denver Museum
of Natural Sciences, the Houston Museum of Natural History, Explorers Hall at the National Geo-
graphic Society, Washington D.C., the Swedish Museum of Naturaly History, Stockholm, Sweden,
and the Hunter Museum of Art, Chattanooga, Tennessee. His work is included in many corporate
and private collections.

Concerned about conservation and the preservation of our natural resources, Mike’s artwork
has raised many thousands of dollars for wildlife organizations around the country. He was named
“Artist of the Year” by the Ruffed Grouse Society, Coraopolis Pennsylvania in 1994. Also of major
importance are programs that promote education and environmental awareness, Mike has parti-
cipated in the Waterfowl Festival, Easton, Maryland, the first World Wildlife Expo, Gattlinburg,
Tennessee, and many other programs.

Technique, expressive style, and compostion take a long time to develope, studying the works of
past masters has proven invaluable. He cites J.M.W. Turner, Bruno Liljefors, J.-B. Camille Corot
and Edouard Manet as having the greatest infuence in his work. “There is no substitute for viewing
original art, you can not see the brush strokes or the intensity of the artwork in books and
magazines”. A major portion of Mike’s travels is dedicated to study art, “never pass up an
oppurtunity to view an original painting”.

“To observe animals in their natural environment is probably the most important factor in painting
nature art. Animal behavior just doesn’t show through in photographs, you have to see animals
before painting them”. Whether it’s heading off to the Boundary Waters of Canada and Minnesota,
or a major escape to British Columbia or New Zealand. “It is always interesting to compare the differ-
ences in plants and animals to the things you are used to in your own area.” Mike travels as much
as possible to photograph, sketch, and collect the vast amount of reference material required to
produce the artwork that is as accurate and realistic as possible. Mike’s ability to orchestrate a
painting is well evident in producing a piece that is so moving and may contain many elements,
people have said Mike’s compostitions are so well harmonized they take on a musical quality.
Mike has also taught himself the art of taxidermy to better understand anatomy and to set up
reference models to use in his work. He has also mounted birds and small mammals for the U. S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, educational institutions, and many prominant artists and carvers. Recently
he has completed thirty museum diorama murals, the largest measuring thirty-five feet across for the
　
Brush Trophy Room Museum, a four and a half year project conceived and developed by James A.
Brush and his charming wife Cindy Brush. The Brush Trophy Room Museum is a celebration of
world’s greatest game animals, and serves to educate the importance of preserving not only the
animals but the evironments they live in. Mike stayed on at the museum for another 5 years as a
curator and designer, and left in 2006 to form Klafke World Taxidermy LLC with his brother Joe to
continue museum quality work for sportsmen and women and wildlife enthusiasts.