Michael Wiklund

Member since 2023

Michael Wiklund paints for the fun of it, the perpetual challenge to improve, and the opportunity to participate in the local art community. He learned to paint through trial and error, online videos and live demonstrations, and college classes on perspective drawing and watercolor painting. A professional engineer, he is naturally inclined to paint made-made objects such as buildings and cars. Based on the strong light and shadows in his paintings, more than one person has asked him if he likes the work of Edward Hopper, which he does.

He holds great admiration for many of today’s Cape Ann artists including Jeff Weaver, Stapleton Kearns, and T.M. Nicholas. He also admires many off-island artists including Kyle Ma, George Van Hook, and Wendy Chidester. He is partial to the work of Emma Fordyce McRae (1887-1974), Wayne Thiebaud (1920-2021), and of course Edward Hooper (1882-1967). Also, Michael thinks Johannes Vermeer wasn’t too bad. ;-)

Michael has a decent studio in his Rockport, MA home. However, he prefers to paint at the kitchen table nearby his wife who is often writing pieces for her widely subscribed Substack site www.palateandpalette.substack.com, which shares stories about people who make great art and food.

Michael is a juried member of the North Shore Arts Association as well as the Rockport Art Association & Museum. He has exhibited frequently in those venues as well as the Gloucester Chamber of Commerce gallery.

On the professional front, Michael founded his own consulting company providing services to the medical device industry focused on making products safe and effective. He has written 10 books on the topic of human factors engineering and has taught the subject for over 35 years as a Professor of the Practice at Tufts University.