Michael Calder
About the Artist
Mike Calder is a designer. He started, after a Masters in Control Systems Theory, by designing machines and tools, and went on to design computer systems and their human interfaces; his work here is in use in every continent of the world, except Antarctica.
In 2002 ago he moved to Cornwall and his Celtic roots have responded by making him work in watercolour and acrylic; on animal studies, landscapes, and anything else that tickles his fancy. He has recently been awarded a PhD in Post-Rational Discourse, and hopes soon to become a qualified stonemason.
Mike says it is impossible to take life seriously; it’s much too important for that. What drives his painting is the urge to convey scale and just how incredible things are. “Everything is either huge or astoundingly tiny. Either way it’s always so marvelously well-formed and detailed. Everything is beautiful, provided you look at it the right way – only some people and their actions are unattractive. And isn’t colour amazing?”
Mike describes himself as an abstract painter, because his work is very much an abstraction from his subjects. “My stuff doesn’t look at all like reality, when you examine it. It’s abstract, even though it’s clearly of recognisable things.”
The paintings in this gallery here are a small example of Mike’s work.