Michael J. Chlebanowski
573/221-5138
Email:  mchlebanowski@hlg.edu
Website:  http://www.michaelchlebanowski.com

Art continues to be a process.  I have incorporated many mediums and tools into the creation of my work.  Behind the scenes,research, photography and sculpture plays an important part of my process.  I rely heavily on sketching and drawing to understand my subject matter and compositions.  Most of my art has been in painting.

Color has always visually stimulated me to paint.  The movement of the paint on a surface has become an adventure and has led me to many a landscape and portrait.  I am influenced by both impressionist and regionalist art.  I greatly admire Monet for his ability to articulate on canvas the weight of the atmosphere and the feel of the moment.  I have identified with artists like Thomas Hart Benton and Grant Wood who painted the Midwestern landscape with the conviction of a plow breaking ground.

Being raised in the suburbs of Chicago, many of my paintings are based on the scenery surrounding the historic I&M canal and along the Des Plaines River.  After relocating to Hannibal Missouri in July 2006, I exhibited Pathways and Waterways, my debut show at the Alliance Art Gallery in Hannibal Missouri.  My paintings reflect the indigenous environments where I have lived and painted.  Mazonia Refuge at Dusk was awarded the Emma McCorkle Memorial Oil Painting Award at the 2006 ORIGINALE and in 2007 the same award was received for Empty Nest exhibited here in this show.  A series of my I&M Canal paintings are on display at Fountaindale Public Library in Romeoville, Illinois and are a part of the library district's permanent art collection.

I received both a Master of Arts degree and a Master of Fine Arts degree from Northern Illinois University.  I am currently an Assistant Professor of Art at Hannibal LaGrange College in Hannibal, Missouri.