Michael Gillespie (56 photos)

He soon began to realize that his main interest was portraiture.

Michael Gillespie is a contemporary American artist. Born in San Antonio, a unique and culturally diverse city, he grew up in Kerrville, Texas' famed wine country, with natural beauty and a subtle artistic appeal.

Perhaps it was this feature of the environment that “set the stage” for Michael Gillespie, turning his initial, childhood passion for drawing into a true love of art.

Despite the fact that Michael showed a talent for drawing as a child, his parents believed that their son should study music. For 9 years he regularly sang in the church choir, and after school he entered a music college. However, wanting to develop his skills in the fine arts, he took additional painting classes and even received a bachelor's degree in fine art. During his studies, he made a living by painting portraits to order; the price of his portraits was not burdensome for the buyer, but quite a significant item of income in his budget.

After moving to Dallas, Michael worked briefly in commercial illustration and soon began to realize that his main interest was portraiture. Trying to improve his professionalism, Gillespie began to attend seminars, studied in the studios of famous artists such as Daniel Green, Paul Leveille and Ramon Kelly, and visited art museums several times during study trips to Europe. He also began to paint outdoors, painting landscapes as often as he could. Another of his interests is scenes from the life of small Texas towns, which the artist visited, passing through many of them while traveling throughout the state.