Kansas artist Michael Duane lives and works in a state where the weather can change quickly from from sunshine and cool breezes to to ominous black clouds and howling winds. It's a perfect place for Michael because of his lifelong fascination with the forces of nature. Michael graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's in Fine Art and Design degree.
Throughout his professional career he has created various styles of art using different mediums including pen and ink, water color and acrylic. Several years ago he became enamored with the bold, pure colors and immediacy of pastels. Using this medium he managed to combine his love of art with his infatuation with Mother Nature. He goes outside to experience the Midwestern weather at it's grandest and most dangerous moods to capture the amazing features of sky, clouds and land. You can feel the serenity or the force. Michael has won numerous awards in juried competitions and has achieved both Signature and Master Pastelist status in the Mid-America Pastel Society.
His work achieved national prominence when he was awarded Signature status in the Pastel Society of America. Selected Solo and Group Exhibits One Landscape-Two Visions, Duo Show, Southwind Gallery, Topeka, Kansas, 2015 Cafe Trio Solo Exhibit, Kansas City, Missouri, 2013 KC Boys Group Exhibit, Kansas City Club Art Space, Kansas City, Missouri, 2011 Kemper Gallery Solo Exhibit, Manhattan, Kansas, 2011 Hays Art Center Solo Exhibit, Hays, Kansas, 2011 Ethereal Visions of the Flint Hills Solo Exhibit, Southwind Gallery, Topeka, Kansas, 2010 Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art Solo Exhibit, David City, Nebraska, 2009 Selected Jury Exhibits National Weather Center Biennale: Arts Window on the Impact of Weather on the Human Experience, Norman, Oklahoma 2013, 2015 Pastel National, Wichita Center for the Arts, Wichita, Kansas, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 Visions of the Flint Hills-Preserving the Tallgrass Prairie Art Exhibit, Buttonwood Art Space, Kansas City, Missouri, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Mid America Pastel Society Southward Gallery Exhibition, Topeka, Kansas, 2014 Symphony in the Flint Hills Art Exhibit, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Paint America Top 100, 2010 Pastel Society of America National Open Exhibition, New York, NY, 2009 Fascinated with Kansas weather, Michael Duane captures the beautiful scenic flint hills with the sharp contrasts of an oncoming thunderstorm or a simple far-off cloud in pastel. His distinctive illustrative style provides an ethereal sensation, creating a countryside filled with the pleasure of quilted comfort.