Artwork by Michael
My name is Michael Reider, and I am an artist who came to painting through a long, winding path. I earned my BFA years ago, but for much of my professional life I worked in other creative fields. Eventually I returned to fine art, not as a hobby, but as the center of my life. Painting is now the way I make sense of the world, the way I process experience, and the way I stay grounded. It is also how I give back, through community workshops, art based classes, and the “Serenity Through Art” sessions I teach to help people find calm and confidence through creativity.
Art is both my passion and my discipline. I paint every day. I study constantly. I push myself hard. And I will be honest. I still face real challenges. I want a deeper command of classical technique, especially in glazing, color harmony, and building form through subtle value shifts. I want my work to feel as convincing and luminous as the pieces I have admired since I was young, the kind of work that holds up under scrutiny the way the Old Masters paintings do. I have made huge strides, but I know there is another level I have not reached yet.
That is why the Old Masters Academy immediately resonated with me. The Academy represents something I deeply respect, a dedication to real craft. The structured, step by step approach to classical methods, including grisaille, underpainting, glazing, handling edges, and controlling light, matches exactly where I am trying to grow. I believe learning from people who genuinely carry the old tradition forward would dramatically accelerate my progress.
Winning the Old Masters Academy course would be a turning point. Not only for my own development, but also for the people I teach. Everything I learn becomes something I share, whether with students in recovery groups, community workshops, or aspiring artists who show up with trembling hands and leave feeling proud of their first drawing. Stronger technique means stronger teaching and stronger artwork. It means a bigger impact.
People should vote for me because I am all in. I am serious about the craft. I work hard. I show up. And I do not want this knowledge for prestige. I want it so I can keep rising, keep learning, and keep helping others do the same. I am committed to honoring the Old Masters legacy while building my own voice, one brushstroke at a time.
This painting is oil in linen. It is from my experience walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. This is a five hundred mile pilgrimage across northern Spain to the cathedral at Santiago Spain that has been made for centuries. The scene I painted is a rainy night in Leon Spain. The title of the painting is “Illuminated Grace”.
Thank you for considering my work and my passion for continuing this journey.
Michael R says
Thanks for your vote!
Paul Bowler says
Amazing painting I feel like I could be walking the streets it looks so real.
I have fond memories of Spain for many different reasons so this wonderful piece transported me back 3 decades .
The illumination of the church is incredible.
Amazing piece of art , simply wonderful.