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Items tagged with: imaginativerealism

WINTER ENCHANTMENT (1997)
Acrylic - 20” x 25”

At the height of the winter, the nights may stretch longer but the days are always full of wonder. That magic of possibilities is what I tried to capture in this painting. 1/3

#holiday #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fantasy

In a wintry forest scene, a fairy descends on delicate wings to touch the top a snowy evergreen with a long crystal wand. A crystalized snowflake materializes at the tip as a troop of ice fairies dance with ballerina-like grace while adding lights around the tree. A clear patch of ice reflects the small but festive tree. Off to the side, an elf hides in another snow burdened tree holding up the artists MW sigil. The art was intended to fold into a pyramid shaped card so the perspective is a fishbowl-like view of the forest tapering to the full moon that shows through a break in the clouds.
#Fantasy #holiday #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

NIGHTFROST (2011)

Acrylic on Watercolor Paper - 9” x 6”



A breath of the fantastic… 1/2

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #happyholidays

Set in profile against a busy starscape, a regal woman exhales a frosty breath that starts as a delicate spiral before dissolving overhead. Her skin is pale and her wardrobe decidedly wintry, mostly white with pearlescent accents. She wears an ornate headdress, detailed in ornamentation, all swirls and flourishes. Her gown made of feathers and snowflakes opens high on the chest to expose more pale skin but she seems unaffected by the chill of winter.
#happyholidays #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

LEAP OF FAITH (2002)
Acrylic on Panel - 11” x 10”

The smallest of the Faded Star series, it is a visual reflection of the unease and excitement I felt at jumping forth into the [for me] new world of so-called fine art painting.

michaelwhelan.com/galleries/le…

#personalvisions #fineart #imaginativerealism #fadedstar

A low angle, slightly tilted perspective looking up an immense chamber. The walls of segmented concrete are dilapidated and filthy. As light shines down into the cavernous space, a solitary figure leaps off his makeshift perch into open air with arms spread wide. Below, a flock of doves stirs with the commotion, fluttering up through the chamber.
Background detail from LEAP OF FAITH featuring fading details of bricked over doorways. In the upper left, the artist sigil, the stylized letters M and W combined in a circle, are tacked on paper that also contains the date 97.
Figure detail from LEAP OF FAITH featuring a man dressed in tattered white jumping off the stub of a concrete ledge into the open air with arms spread. Into the cavernous space, light angles down, hitting the wall like a spotlight in a patch with a rounded top edge. A line of doves flirts with the edge of light.

LEAP OF FAITH

The Art of Michael Whelan
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions #fadedstar

THE DREAMING LANDS (2002)
Oil on Canvas - 20” X 30”

This painting is one of several works derived from my experiences at MSKCC in 2000. 1/4

#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions #mskcc

Sunken into solid rock, a woman with wavy golden blonde hair lies with her arms spread and stares up at the sky. Her plain white t-shirt rides up to expose a hint of midriff. One knee is slightly raised, and a shadow falls across her thin, drab green sweatpants. The rock enveloping her shows some cracking and pebbling but is mostly worn smooth. A ridge of mountains runs just beyond forming a rim, tan against the gray rock in which she is situated. Past that more barren land leads to a stretch of mountain that climbs left to right with the visible break of a valley cut through before resuming in a long half dome. The panoramic view eventually gives way to soft blue skies.
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions #mskcc

SUBTERRANEANS (1992)
Acrylic on Canvas - 44” x 33”

Companion piece to CLIMBER and THE RED STEP, this painting is firmly set within my Faded Star series.

My original conception of the image didn’t seem right somehow, and I had been wondering how I could improve on it. 1/4

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #fadedstar

In a worm's eye view up a massive stepped wall, a solitary figure crouches on the bottom tier looking up, awed by a view of concrete climbing as far as he can see. The facade shows intricate patterns, like many derelict building merged together. A trapezoid of filtered light stretches along the side wall hinting at a way out somewhere off panel. The muted tones, just gray and rust with a slight hint of blue, combine with dusty quality to give the painting an oppressive atmosphere.
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions #fadedstar

PRESENCE (1992)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 30” x 36”

Originally done as a large color study for another painting, it has become a favorite of mine just as it is.

michaelwhelan.com/galleries/pr…

#fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism

A cloaked figure stands in a dark pocket of forest illuminated by a floating sphere of light. Trees rise above dwarfing the figure at they peak at the top center of the canvas, giving way to twilight sky that seems to glow light blue beyond the trees and darken reveal stars.
Close detail from PRESENCE providing a closer look at the figure illuminated by a floating sphere of light. The brilliance creates a starburst of radiance. Because of it, we can see the contour of the robe the figure wears including billowing sleeves but we can’t make out the face.

PRESENCE

The Art of Michael Whelan
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

RISING (2007)
Acrylic on Watercolor board - 36” X 24”

This image came to me while I was working on THE RIVER in 1996. 1/3

#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

Rough stone steps wind around the side of a hill defining the cliff's edge in their slow ascent. As the path turns sharply, the eroded ground beneath forms an overhang. The sky beyond is suffused with golden radiance layered with grey-blue clouds. The trees at the edge of the cliff, already in the transition to autumn, are lit by the warm glow of sunset creating a contrast of light and shadow up thick textured trunks. Out over the edge, hovering in the open air, a woman in a long dress holds her hands out as if presenting a clear spherical vessel containing a solitary flame. Bathed in the light of sunset, she stares off panel into the far distance while a pair of doves flies low, sweeping over the curving steps.
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

PATIENCE (1996)
Acrylic on Panel - 13” x 10 ½”

All the virtues represented in my series of the same name are ones that seem to me to be in short supply today. 1/2

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #virtues

Out of the water slender outcrops of stone stand earthy bronze in contrast to blue skies barely marked with traces of cloud. Attached to the top one of the thicker shards of pitted, textured stone is an intact spiral of an ammonite fossil. Lazing across the upper curve of the ridged shell, a woman raises her head to catch golden rays of light and an ocean breeze that carries the long locks of her sunflower blonde hair. The bare curve of her hip suggests that she's not wearing anything.
#fineart #virtues #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

ÉMIGRÉ (2006)
Acrylic on Panel - 12” x 12”

A study done at the time I painted END OF NATURE VII, later finished to become a new small painting in its own right. If only she indulged in a little self-examination, she would know that she carries the means to a new beginning on her own shoulders.

michaelwhelan.com/galleries/em…

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #endofnature

The viewer is drawn into a low angle view from the underside of a wide crescent of trees. Bare trunks bathed in golden light lean toward an unseen sun setting low off-panel to the left. The play of light on bark illuminates rich texture, defined in detail by soft shadow. Thinning branches rise and spread like the delta of a river to support flat treetops that stand dark green against clear azure sky. Blending among the upper branches, a female holds a suitcase, clasping it by the handle with both hands. Pensively she stares off, posed as if waiting for a ride. The line of her eyes extends from nearby branches to an inward facing sliver of chalky moon. On her back flare wings that seem constructed rather than natural. Secured with leather straps crossing her chest, the wings flare out revealing a webbing of wooden supports underneath to lend structure.
Detail from ÉMIGRÉ featuring in woman in long dress standing on the branch of an enormously tall tree. Above, the trunk splits into branches that resemble a river delta and support a flat meandering canopy joined with other treetops.
Figure detail from ÉMIGRÉ featuring a woman in long dress standing on the branch of a tree. The wings on her back are constructed as evidenced by the web-like wooden supports that provide structure on the underside. She holds a suitcase with both hands on the handle. She stares off in the distance as if nervously looking for something.

ÉMIGRÉ

A study done at the time I painted END OF NATURE VII, later finished to become a new small painting in its own right. If only she indulged in a little self-examination, she would know that she carr…
The Art of Michael Whelan
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions #EndOfNature

OUTLOOK (2025)
Acrylic on Canvas - 12” x 9”

All of my Lumen paintings feature a figure struggling to reach the light, against seemingly overwhelming travails. In OUTLOOK we see the moment of breakthrough and discovery, a daunting obstacle overcome. 1/4

michaelwhelan.com/galleries/ou…

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #lumen

A boy rests on a ledge to peer out an open panel in a huge concrete facade that is divided into recessed rectangles. At the intersection of the concrete support beams, the cross braces rust over. Each rectangle on the wall contains a different shape (circle, hexagon, 8-pointed star) sealed and closing off the view outside. Below the boy, a panel tumbles down as he props his hand on the rusted metal frame. Beyond is blue-gray sky.

OUTLOOK

All of my Lumen paintings feature a figure struggling to reach the light, against seemingly overwhelming travails. In OUTLOOK we see the moment of breakthrough and discovery, a daunting obstacle ov…
The Art of Michael Whelan
#fineart #lumen #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

INTANGIBLES: DREAM AND DISILLUSION (1989)
Acrylic on Canvas - 24" X 48"

When I got a call about a book project, an Arthur C. Clarke short story collection titled Tales from Planet Earth, I told the client that I had already set aside the month to work on a personal project. 1/5

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #sciencefiction #scifi #scifiart #arthurcclarke

A primitive, bearded man crouches naked on the sand as white cresting waves roll in to gently lap the shore. With palm up, he reaches out toward a triangular glass pyramid surrounded by a hazy ring of light. The prism is one of many objects that swirl in the air to form a Fibonacci curve around him. The symbols include an hourglass, a trilobite fossil, an egg, a glass heart, a broken ladder, and an owl skull. Orange rock forms a natural bridge behind him. Through its arch, the luminous moon hangs low in the sky.
#scifi #ScienceFiction #scifiart #fineart #ArthurCClarke #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

ORBIS SCIENTIARUM (1997)
Acrylic on Panel - 24” x 36”

It is frequently assumed that if we try hard enough, there are no limits to our understanding of the universe. 1/4

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #fadedstar

Tiny figures, each carrying a light, walk a path cut into the face of an enormous textured stone facade. The path angles down before opening to a round circuit where people seem to be defying gravity as they walk the curve even upside down. The channel in the stone resembles the number 9 lying face up. A hole at the center of the loop exposes the sky outside. A figure points his light up toward it but there is no apparent path to get there. On the upper edge of the panel, a weathered five-pointed star is painted on the stone in white.
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions #fadedstar

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#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

SANCTUARY (2019)
Oil - 24” x 18”

This rose from my desire to revisit thematic ground that inspired my first gallery show at Tree’s Place back in 1997. 1/2

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #passage #portals

A red glass heart tied to a silk ribbon lies discarded on the worn stone steps of what could be some ancient temple. Water laps gently up the low climbing steps from the left while a passage between classical columns leads forward and up to a partially obscured peaked archway. A transparent vessel with a bubble-like sheen contains a solitary flame and floats toward the light beyond the archway.
#fineart #portals #imaginativerealism #personalvisions #Passage

CHASM (2000)
Acrylic on Panel - 30" x 20"

I keep a sketchpad next to the bed for recording ideas which arrive as I am falling asleep or waking up... prime time for my "muse channel." 1/2

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #fadedstar

A woman with tentative footing stands in a tetrahedral crevice cut into the face of an enormous stone wall. With no good handhold, she extends to glance out at a track of rust stains in the textured concrete. Well out of arm's reach, the vertical lines run parallel, marked with empty pairs of holes and the occasion—often broken—rung made of bent rebar. A similar pattern, evidence of a ladder that used to run up the wall, extends down from where she stands, but from her vantage she doesn't see it. She wears a white shawl-like shift trimmed in blue that hangs to knee length on the front and down to her heels in the back. Cut in a triangular pattern, it is an obvious inversion of the nook she inhabits.
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions #fadedstar

IN A WORLD OF HER OWN (2016)
Acrylic on Canvas - 36" x 48"

This painting arose from musing on an interview that Stanley Kubrick gave in 1968.

When I was young I originally read his comments to glean clues to understanding Kubrick’s landmark film 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY – but I have repeatedly gone back to that interview and been inspired by several of the comments that were made by the director. 1/3

#fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism

Against the paneled concrete wall of a massive chamber, a stone sphere hovers as if by magic. The outer surface is polished and patterned with overlapping 5-pointed stars. Light from a simple bulb hanging inside fills the sphere with warm light. At the edge of a circular opening, a little girl in pink dress sits reading with her feet and the blanket beneath her dangling unsupported. The metal frames that structure the concrete wall have thoroughly rusted. Much of the stone is dingy and cracked. Eroding at the top of the chamber, the wall gives way to a view of a sliver of crescent moon in the blue night sky.
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

PASSING BY (2025)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 12” x 16”

During my college years in the late 60s, I was fortunate to see Santana in concert—and they were great! Earlier this month, I started thinking about the band out of the blue. 1/5

michaelwhelan.com/galleries/20…

#fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism

A woman strolls across a field overgrown with wild grass that is nearly glowing in the sunlight. Copper five and six-pointed stars stick out of the ground on sticks. The woman wears a long black dress decorated with astronomical icons (crescent moons and wavy suns). The gold pattern on the front of her red tunic matches blonde hair that falls past her shoulders. A white owl perches on her shoulder with wings spread and beak turned toward the audience. A red-feathered bird flaps past at thigh height and a few more glide in the distance. Verdant trees cover the edges of the panel with a break between exposing billowing clouds that roll across brilliant blue sky.

2025 LEFTOVER 9

During my college years in the late 60s, I was fortunate to see Santana in concert—and they were great! Earlier this month, I started thinking about the band out of the blue. Watching videos of the…
The Art of Michael Whelan
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

MISTY PATH (2002)
Acrylic on Panel - 24" x 18"

Based on an experience I had while hiking in a local park on a very foggy day. There was a path that runs through an overhanging mass of vines and other foliage near a lake, and I was the only person in the place, except for my infant son, who was napping in the carrier on my back. As I stood enthralled by the scene I saw this image in my mind’s eye.

michaelwhelan.com/galleries/mi…

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #sanctuary #fineart

A woman stands on a winding path through an overgrown leafy arch. With her arms out at her sides, white robes drape down creating a ghostly contour. Framed by the uneven oval leading through arch, she raises her arm above her shoulder, gesturing palm up toward a flame inside a transparent sphere that floats ahead of her on the path. The vibrant green of the arch, rendered in the minutest leafy detail, contrasts a hazy blue-gray mist that fills the upper right of the painting.
Figure detail from MISTY PATH featuring a woman wearing white robes that drape down creating a ghostly contour, she raises her arm above her shoulder, gesturing palm up toward a flame inside a transparent sphere that floats ahead of her on the path.

MISTY PATH

Based on an experience I had while hiking in a local park on a very foggy day. There was a path that runs through an overhanging mass of vines and other foliage near a lake, and I was the only pers…
The Art of Michael Whelan
#fineart #Sanctuary #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

HARBINGER (2015)
Acrylic on Canvas - 36" x 54"

My initial inspiration, I believe, grew out of concern for the destabilizing and immense effects of global climate change, a sense of nature out of control and giving birth to unnatural and cataclysmic phenomena. 1/2

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart

A harsh look down abandoned main street as a dust storm is about to swallow the town, pushing forward from billowing brown clouds on the horizon. In the foreground a stop light hangs papered over with a giant wasp nest. Ominously the red light of the signal protrudes from the nest like an unblinking eye fixated on the viewer. The yellow lane line dividing the street wavers off-center. To the left, a car is overturned. Among the wreckage lies a child's rag doll spilled out the passenger window. An eagle with wings spread wide is painted on the derelict shop window.
#fineart #imaginativerealism #personalvisions

MOON'S WINDOW (2007)
Acrylic on Panel - 7" X 5"

This window was suggested by shapes at the Whitby Abbey, Yorkshire England. (Nothing to do with the painting, but Whitby is where Count Dracula landed when he arrived in England...) 1/3

#personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #portals #whitbyabbey

The warm glow of the morning sun hits the top of the rough stone facade of abbey ruins. Delicate wildflowers of pink and blue grow on the step. A view through a thin pointed arch exposes a sequence of similar arches with the final arch broken and incomplete as it frames a full moon against the pale blue morning sky. A pair of seagulls glide in opposite directions.
#fineart #portals #imaginativerealism #whitbyabbey #personalvisions

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