Michael Nieson Piechocinski, Painter, Tells His Story

The landscape has always been a special area of interest for me. I am concerned with the subject primarily as a vehicle to revel in color and pattern. The subject of the landscape is a challenge with its fleeting presentation of information dictated by the constantly shifting direction of light. 

PROVINCETOWN  9" x 12"  OIL

I am interested in the illusion of space and a recollection of a particular place, but only as a secondary aspect. The character of the layered surface, the invented color-fields, and subsequent edge of abstraction are always of paramount importance to me in my paintings.

BRANDYWINE RIVER AT CHAD’S FORD  9” X 12” OIL

I can remember the first time that I found my way through an overgrown trail and stood at one of the majestic bends of the Potomac River. I was overwhelmed by the sense of space and continuity of time in this newly discovered vista. This was an environment that was in sharp contrast to the heavily industrialized and polluted Flint River that I knew as a youth in Michigan. Along the Potomac, every turn, every tree, and each hour of the day presented an endless variety of visual ideas. 

GREAT FALLS, POTOMAC, VIRGINIA VIEW  36” X 50”  OIL

The Potomac can also invoke a sense of history ranging from the earliest indigenous peoples, the European invasion, the American Revolution, The Civil War, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.  These historic contexts, though impressive, are small in comparison to the physical presence of the Potomac and the power of untouched nature. Even in the shadow of the Nation’s Capitol, it is possible to experience the calmness and serenity of the enduring pulse of this great river. It is to these places that I feel the constant urge to return and use as a source of visual stimulation for my painting.

HARRISON ISLAND, POTOMAC RIVER  32” X 40” OIL

Biographical Information about Michael

Michael Piechocinski received his B.S. and M.A. degrees from Northern Michigan University. He is currently an adjunct professor of art at Montgomery College, Germantown, Maryland. He has also been an adjunct professor of art at the Corcoran College of Art in Washington, DC, a college board consultant to the District of Columbia, a reader for the AP Studio Art Exams, and co-director of the Montgomery County Visual Art Center. In addition, he has also served as a cultural affairs consultant for the United States Department of State, Embassies in Eritrea, Ecuador, and Venezuela.  

POTOMAC VIEW  9” X 12” OIL

Michael's awards and recognition include: a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, the Robert Rauschenberg Power of Art Award, The Maryland Governor’s Arts Educator Award, a U.S. Department of Education Presidential Scholar Teacher’s Award, and the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts Distinguished Teacher Award. 

CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH 8^TH & H Streets , DC  9” X 12” OIL

Michael has had numerous exhibitions of his paintings in the US, Africa, and South America and is known for his color field landscapes, wet plate photography, and collage. 

WINTER CREEK WILDCAT ROAD  9” X 12” OIL

In addition to his work as a contemporary artist, he has also produced a significant body of work in the traditional techniques of Byzantine style Iconography. His work in the writing of Icons can be found in several Eastern Orthodox Churches and private collections in the United States, Africa, and Europe. He has also done field research in Eritrea and Ethiopia and published articles on The Iconography of Ethiopia and The 1990 Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine Symposium on the Holy Image.

KEY BRIDGE GEORGETOWN FROM BOATHOUSE  9” X 12” OIL

To see more of Michael's work, please visit his website.

This is Week 17 of 52 Artists in 52 Weeks. Thank you for reading and sharing Michael's story today!