Michael Nichols

Biography

Michael Nichols creates ghostly forms using traditional painting and drawing techniques. His work explores contemporary applications of two ancient mediums, metalpoint drawing and buon fresco painting. Nichols has exhibited work abroad and throughout the United States in venues that include the Boston Center for the Arts, the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center, and the Huntsville Museum of Art. His metalpoint drawing is featured in two recent publications, Gateway to Drawing, A Complete Guide, by Thames and Hudson and Silverpoint and Metalpoint Drawing: A Complete Guide to the Medium, by Routledge Press.

Nichols’ work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors. In 2018, he received a Professional Artist Development Grant from the Great Meadows Foundation, in Louisville. He was awarded a 2010 Al Smith Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council. He has received numerous WKU faculty grants, Buon Fresco Technique, Painted in Stone, Refresh, and Influences, Conversations about fresco in Italy, in support of his research in the technique of buon fresco painting.

Michael earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from Fontbonne University. He lives in Bowling Green, KY with his partner, artist Leslie Nichols. Michael is a Professor of Art at Western Kentucky University.