MEET THE ARTIST
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Michael Pekala
Painting(Oil, Acrylics, Watercolor)
610-470-0784
CHESCO
Michael is an artist who primarily paints on stretched upholstery fabric with acrylic paints. He always looks for ways to incorporate the fabric’s pattern and texture into his work, which often infuses the piece with a sense of whimsy and wonder. He is an award-winning artist whose work has been recognized in a number of juried exhibitions throughout Southern New England.
He is a graduate of both Boston University and the Rhode Island School of Design and his artistic journey started in West Chester, PA where as a young boy you could always find Michael drawing. A lover of comic books, he started with pen and ink when he was young and it was this work that would propel him into art school. He still loves pen and ink but has evolved to painting with acrylics on upholstery fabric while most recently experimenting with acrylics on a combination of upholstery fabric and acrylic glass.
Working with upholstery fabric traces back to Michael’s youth, as his mother was a furniture upholster working out of their home in West Chester. Surrounded by bolts of fabric in the basement, Michael would often stare at the intricate, abstract and floral patterns and visualize different animals and scenes. Fast forward 35 years and Michael does this very same thing to start his paintings.
Though Michael currently resides in Rhode Island, his parents still live in West Chester, a town that he holds dear to his heart, and to where he traces his artistic roots.