Night Birch

Night Birch, 2015

Scratchboard

7 "x 8" in a frame (17.8 cm x 20.3 cm in a frame)

© copyright Mike Kraus

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/252780906/night-birch-original-scratchboard-7-x-8?ref=shop_home_active_1

10% OFF with coupon code JOINTHEFUN

Birch trees have always been a meditative source for me. Growing up, there was one outside my window that I would look at while daydreaming. And, when I needed to get away from the world I went to a grove of Birch trees to find refuge. I’ve always found the unique and nearly useless white tree interesting.

This painting would look best somewhere that has saturated rich colors 

For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt

Night Birch

Night Birch, 2015

Scratchboard

4 "x 6" in a frame (10.2 cm x 15.2 cm in a frame)

© copyright Mike Kraus
To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/230945385/night-birch-original-scratchboard-4-x-6?

Birch trees have always been a meditative source for me. Growing up, there was one outside my window that I would look at while daydreaming. And, when I needed to get away from the world I went to a grove of Birch trees to find refuge. I’ve always found the unique and nearly useless white tree interesting.

This painting would look best somewhere that has saturated rich colors 

For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt 

Night Birch

Night Birch, 2015

Scratchboard

8" x 10" in a frame (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm in a frame)

© copyright Mike Kraus

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/229453949/night-birch-original-scratchboard-8-x-10?

20% OFF with my special anniversary coupon code 1YEARFUN

Birch trees have always been a meditative source for me. Growing up, there was one outside my window that I would look at while daydreaming. And, when I needed to get away from the world I went to a grove of Birch trees to find refuge. I’ve always found the unique and nearly useless white tree interesting.

This painting would look best somewhere that has saturated rich colors 

For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt 

Night Birch

Night Birch, 2015

Scratchboard

4" x 6" in a frame (10.2 cm x 15.2 cm in a frame)

© copyright Mike Kraus

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/228727517/night-birch-original-scratchboard-4-x-6?

Use my special anniversary coupon code 1YEARFUN and get 20% OFF

Birch trees have always been a meditative source for me. Growing up, there was one outside my window that I would look at while daydreaming. And, when I needed to get away from the world I went to a grove of Birch trees to find refuge. I’ve always found the unique and nearly useless white tree interesting.

This painting would look best somewhere that has saturated rich colors 

For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt 

The Easter Goblin

This is the Easter Bunny that visited our house this year...

Bella and Scout having fun in the puppy wrestling room on Easter.

Scout is very tough and Bella's very gentle.  Perfect match.  Don't worry about Bella.  She's on medicine for a vitamin deficiency.  Scout's not that tough...

 Poor Scout.  So tired from playing all day.  Comes home completely covered in dog slobber.  Too sleepy to fight her bath...

"Hi water.  I hate you..."

In the spirit of the holiday, Scout rises from the dead!

It was a long day in the puppy nest.  

Scout looks like she still has a puppy playtime hangover on our hike to the library.  Hope everyone had a good Easter.

Please check out my art at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt

Don't see anything you'd like, let me know and I could create something special for you!

Just Another Day At the Office

 Just another day at the office.  Scout and I made our commute from the bedroom to the living room.  Light traffic for a Monday.  I'm fortunate to have a window in my office.  It keeps the creative juices flowing.

Time to get to work.  Put on my reading glasses and work on the "to-do" list.  Lots of paper work.  Things to file.  Getting final approvals. 

 Senior Management Meeting.  Scout's the leader of the operation.  Beaker's the brains.  I'm tasked with "gettin' stuff done."

 Coffee Break.  This is where the real business gets done.  The place where the important meetings take place.  It's all about relationships.  And, knowing what you have to do to get rewards.

Five o'clock.  We've earned time to put on our slippers, sit back, and have a nice cold drink.  To enjoy the good life.  Work hard, play hard.    Most importantly, don't take stuff so seriously and remember to have fun.

Also, if you're on Etsy, please visit my new shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt

Night Birch

Night Birch, 2014

scratchboard

© copyright Mike Kraus

Birch trees have always been a meditative source for me.  Growing up, there was one outside my window that I would look at while daydreaming.  And, when I needed to get away from the world I went to a grove of Birch trees to find refuge.  I’ve always found the unique and nearly insignificant white tree interesting.

The IT Guy

The IT Guy, 2014

pen, ink, and graphite

© copyright Mike Kraus

During the day, he's largely ignored by the staff until someone has a computer problem.  You'll usually find him in his distant office that doubles as a storage room for servers and cannibalized electronics.  At night, he performs at the local theatre and becomes a character himself.  Two lives which couldn't be any more different.

White Birch

White Birch, 2014

Acrylic and ink

© copyright Mike Kraus

What’s black and white and red all over?  A birch tree of course.  Birch trees have always been a meditative source for me.  Growing up, there was one outside my window that I would look at while daydreaming.  And, when I needed to get away from the world I went to a grove of Birch trees to find refuge.  I’ve always found the unique and nearly useless white tree interesting.

Palmer Hall

"Palmer Hall", 2014

pen and ink 
© copyright Mike Kraus

I paid the fee and they unlocked the doors.  We transferred our equipment from the car onto the stage.  Other groups arrive and friends gather in the parking lot.  Standing around the back door waiting for our drinks to be delivered.  This is the only place where kids are welcome.  Killing time with skateboards and forgetting the long week.  It’s 7pm and time to open the doors for the show.

Chicago Alley

Chicago Alley, 2014

pen and colored pencils 
© copyright Mike Kraus

I like to look at the back of buildings while riding the "L."  The ugly mess of twisted wires, garbage, and feral strays can open up to something more beautiful.  It reveals how the city works just as the facade hides it.  

Everybody Loves a Landlord

"Everybody Loves a Landlord", 2014

pen, ink, graphite 
© copyright Mike Kraus

On the edge of the city, a landlord busies himself with his rental estate.  Always with a cigarette in hand, he wanders around the structure trying to find a purpose.  He doesn’t have to show a vacant apartment until 3pm.  It’s not unusual to find him sitting in the lobby welcoming tenants and staring off into the distance.  The boom box repeats his only cassette: Dark Side of the Moon.  

Ducks On the Pond. Trout In Left.

Ducks On the Pond.  Trout In Left., 2014

photograph 
© copyright Mike Kraus

I always have my camera with me to catch these moments.  A few ducks on perfectly blue water with fish just below the surface.  It’s almost abstract and painterly.  Easy to fall into reverie.

"All Entities Move and Nothing Remains Still"

"All Entities Move and Nothing Remains Still", 2014

pen, ink, and graphite

© copyright Mike Kraus

When is a place no longer home?  Is it when you no longer recognize the town?  Maybe it’s when all the institutions you were involved with have dissolved?  Or could it be when all your friends and family have fled?  Is the passing of time what makes it so “you can’t go home again?”

Good Night Factory

Good Night Factory, 2014

scratchboard

© copyright Mike Kraus

The Acropolis or Coliseum of the Industrial Age.  Ruins commonly found throughout the Rust Belt.  The upheaval that occurred as families left the manual labor of their farms for the power-driven manufacturing of monolithic corporations.  A complicated artificial bond that brought gains in efficiency, medicine, and life expectancy as well as ecological damage, dehumanization, and greater inequality.  A dysfunctional relationship that scars entire regions as production is automated or leaves for poverty-stricken districts desperate for menial wages.  What happens to people when we are no longer needed?

Wilder Building

Wilder Building, 2014

pen, ink, and graphite

© copyright Mike Kraus


Buildings do more than shelter us from the rain.  They reveal human intelligence and purpose.  What kind of technology did it require in 1887 to construct Rochester's first modern skyscraper?  What was the architect trying to tell us using the Romanesque style?  It's on the National Register of Historic Places, so what does the Wilder Building mean to us today?  Something that is difficult to think about when speeding by the structure in a car.

Birch Forest

Birch Forest, 2014

Acrylic and ink

© copyright Mike Kraus

What’s black and white and red all over?  A birch forest of course.  Birch trees have always been a meditative source for me.  Growing up, there was one outside my window that I would look at while daydreaming.  And, when I needed to get away from the world I went to a grove of Birch trees to find refuge.  I’ve always found the unique and nearly insignificant white tree interesting.