“Full Moon Forest” by Michael J. Peterson

Michael J. Peterson is an abstract artist, Eau Claire townie, and USAF veteran who creates art from found objects. Shaped by European masters and life’s rough edges, he embraces the imperfect beauty in trash and life.

“Full Moon Forest” (2020) • 12” x 11” • Mixed medium by Michael J. Peterson •  From the artist: “I purposely start with no plan. The challenge of not knowing lets creativity flow, pushing me toward expressions that wouldn’t exist if I knew the outcome from the start. In a thrift store, I found a flat piece of wood and an unrelated circular chunk. I laid them together and saw the beginning of Full Moon Forest. Back in the studio, I felt the urge for color and texture. Digging through boxes of found materials—rope, twine, leather, denim—the process unfurled.

Finding beauty in discarded materials is central to my work. My process is raw and intuitive, layering, adding, subtracting, letting accidents become beauty. I strive to make my work extend off the wall, engaging space and tactility. Life’s rough edges, like discarded objects, hold beauty, and I find it there.”