Paul Micich
Paul Micich is a multi-talented artist who created a remarkable career from his love for the visual and musical arts. Born in a small community in Iowa, Paul gained a deep appreciation for a strong work ethic by growing up on a large-scale turkey farm. Tasks that required him to get his hands dirty and work alone prepared him for an artistic career that required patience, dedication, and extended periods of solitary creation.
Paul's first love was music. At ten years old, the school music program introduced him to the trumpet. To this day, he still remembers his first horn, how it felt, and how it responded to the movement of his fingers. "I was crazy for the trumpet through high school and college at Drake University. If I could practice two more hours in the day rather than do something else, I would do it." Despite his family’s reservations, he traveled for several years as a professional trumpet player. He was always drawn to playing in a variety of styles, and that is still part of his creative approach.
After being around loud music for the greater part of his life, he began worrying about hearing loss and started looking for something else that would reach the level of fascination he had for music. Paul recalls how his college trumpet instructor recommended the Betty Edwards art book, Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain, for its insights into music. Although the book's concepts remain a part of his music performance approach today, the drawing exercises in the book opened the door to his ongoing fascination with making art. Paul enrolled in commercial art classes at a community college, won the top scholarship, and he built a portfolio with the vital instruction he received. Then on a leisurely trip to Kansas City with his wife, he decided to share his work with a prominent design studio. One look at his collection led to an Art Director/Designer position and, ultimately, a position as a Creative Director. The new career thrust Paul into a commercial world, where he learned to collaborate with brilliant artists and generate infinite ideas.
Paul enjoyed his job at the design studio and relished the exposure to the distinct processes and styles shared by his gifted colleagues. However, throughout his transition to the visual arts, he developed a deep love for painting. After work, Paul was drawn to the canvas to paint. After several years of intensive agency work, he was eager to forge an artistic path that afforded more freedom. Paul departed his full-time job and focused on freelancing as an illustrator and expanding a painting portfolio portraying people. He and his wife moved to Nashville so she could complete her doctorate. There, Paul made a serendipitous discovery that finally inspired him to always maintain his passion for creating visual and musical art.
Sky Triptych by Paul Micich
While browsing through a Next Whole Earth Catalog, he stumbled upon an article about the inventor of a unique Electronic Valve Instrument, or EVI for short. Intrigued, Paul called up the creator, and before long, he was on his way to Chicago to purchase a prototype. He immediately fell in love with the unusual instrument and its ability to create a multitude of expressive sounds with his breath.
Paul developed a beautiful balance between meaningful freelance projects, making music, and painting. His independent work included stunning covers for prestigious John Newbery Medal books, album covers for artists and bands on the BMG/RCA label, illustrations for several children's books (one of which sold a million and a half copies), and design work for prominent brands like Macy's, Campbell's Soup, and The Atlantic. He won Gold and Silver awards from The Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, had his work in Communication Arts Annuals, and had several notable magazines feature his impressive work.
After immersing himself in playing the EVI, he formed the band World Port to communicate his love for creating international music. To date, his band has produced five albums and continues to perform at numerous festivals. In addition, his tireless pursuit of merging his love for visual and musical arts garnered the Clear Lake Art Center Master Artist/Musician Award and the Deb Burger Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts.
Today, Objets Trouves sells his original paintings to collectors across the country. Paul's tenacious pursuit of connecting with his audience and sharing his creative discoveries in visual and acoustic ways has made him a one-of-a-kind artist. "Music and art are magic to me, and it's my purpose to share that magic with my audience," states Paul.
Silence and the blank canvas are Paul's workplaces. He feels, "Music and art support each other in a wonderfully organic way that makes letting go of either one not feasible." A single note or brushstroke begins his visceral journey, compelling him to make his following marks, his following sounds, always with an invitation to his audience to be intimate witnesses to what he discovers and, ultimately, what he creates. His process focuses on crafting an environment that produces surprising discoveries that communicate a story. He states, "I explore what my hands and breath make and what that tells me about myself and our shared paths as human beings."
Paul's process is much like his life path, intentional, unpredictable, and full of meaningful revelations. Currently, he is working on several paintings to follow his highly regarded Paper Airplanes series. He states, "I've always been painting people, but I'm now, more than ever, fascinated by our perception of each other. I want to capture a character's sense of life and humanity with other elements that speak of the complexity of life." Paul feels that there’s so much to perceive in each other that we must cherish what we find and always look for more. “There’s always more to see and feel.” His commitment to exploring humans and the world will undoubtedly lead to more artworks that inspire us to pause to see everything differently because Paul wants us never to take our time or each other for granted.
Please visit the Objets Trouvés website to learn more about Paul Micich and view his paintings available for purchase.
