Local Artists

I am an active member of the North Shore Camera Club where I regularly compete and have won several awards.

Saturniid moths or silk moths have been a favorite of mine since I was a child. Their huge size, furry bodies and legs, and gentle demeanor captivated me whenever I came across one. I raised many a caterpillar to adulthood, waiting in anticipation for the spring emergence of the moth from its cocoon after a long winter. One spring, many years ago, a female Cecropia emerged and I decided to test the power of her pheromones to attract the males. I lived in the suburbs and wondered how quickly the males would find her as the moth only lives 7 to 10 days. I had an old fashioned window that was separated from the screen by about 4 inches and figured that would give her plenty of room. She quietly fluttered, then found a spot and gently vibrated her wings off and on. I watched for a while, then left. At 4 a.m. I returned and to my delight there were 3 males fluttering around my window! I couldn’t believe it…I was amazed that these moths somehow emerged within that small window of life, found each other and perpetuated their race…even in the suburbs of Chicago.

This painting celebrates that moment of wonder I felt observing those beautiful moths gathered around the female.

She has been published in Nature Magazine, Fieldiana (Field Museum), Adansonia (Smithsonian), Journal of Human Evolution, Scientific American, Cathaya- Annals of the Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Magnolia Society International, The Washington Post, National Geographic OnLine and Science Magazine.

She was selected as Artist-in Residence for the National Park Service Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 2008.

Mike photographed, authored, and published the literary coffee-table book entitled My Journey into the Wilds of Chicago: A Celebration of Chicagoland’s Startling Natural Wonders. It earned national acclaim when Publishers Weekly described the photography as “glorious” and the writing as “celebratory, soulful, and poetic.” Building upon the book, Mike then created ChicagoNatureNOW! — a free website that introduces Chicagoans to the glorious nature that surrounds them.

Faced with the challenge of composing three-dimensional images of the “flat” prairie—ones that rivaled those iconic calendar shots of the mountainous American West—Mike invented a hyper-realistic system of composition for accentuating the visual depth of any vista. Inspired by Chicago’s prairie, Mike called it The Chicago Style of Landscape Photography. It is an immersive approach that makes the viewer feel like they’re inside the scene. The technique also emphasizes simplicity and sensitivity as a way of communicating the essence and emotion of complex panoramas—the hallmarks of Mike’s work. As a testament to the technique, Mike’s Chicago nature landscapes will appear in the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Sierra Club Wilderness Wall Calendar.

My collection includes photographs of twenty species of wild North American orchids and over 1000 species of North American plants. My photos appear on several nature related web sites and have been published in Chicago Wilderness Magazine including the Spring 2006 and Fall 2009 covers.

Although I have had a life long interest in nature, I had two careers before devoting full time to photography. With a bachelor’s degree in music education and a master’s degree in performance from Northwestern I spent twelve years as a band director in Streamwood, Illinois. I followed this with a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and became a professor of music education.

During my years at the university I gained computer programming skills and had a long career as a software engineer for the university and then for Pearson Educational Measurement. In 2005 I resigned to devote full time to photography.

If you have a primary interest in images within the Chicago Wilderness, when visiting my website I recommend two galleries in particular: Photo Galleries / The Midwest / Lake in the Hills Fen and Central States.