Biography

Michael Griffin (b. 1979) is a native and resident of Nashville, TN where he produces landscape oil paintings from his home state and from his travels to the American West and South Carolina’s Lowcountry. In 2002, Michael graduated from Wake Forest University where he was awarded a four year Presidential Scholarship in Art. After a year in Atlanta training to become a commercial illustrator, Michael realized his heart lay not in the confines of a career in illustration but in the freedom inherent in outdoor landscape painting. Shortly thereafter, he departed for the expansive scenery of Jackson Hole, WY where he would live for two years, paint extensively outdoors, and take workshops under renowned landscape painters Scott Christensen, Matt Smith, and Ralph Oberg.

Michael’s return to his home in the South evoked childhood memories of annual summer vacations spent in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. Over the last decade, he has made regular visits to South Carolina to paint from life and reconnect with this rich coastal region.

Michael has had numerous works juried into national art competitions including Arts for the Parks, the Breckenridge Fine Arts National Show, and the Southern Appalachian Artist Guild National Show. In the September 2009 issue of Southwest Art, Michael and his artwork were featured in their annual 21 Under 31, and his painting “Smoky Mountain Bales” received the honor of being chosen for the cover. In addition to being widely collected in private homes and corporations, Michael’s paintings hang in the permanent art collections of Montgomery Bell Academy and Wake Forest University.