In the final decade of his life, Michael taught painting and drawing to prisoners and thought of this work as one of the most rewarding and productive times of his life. As a devoted dad himself, he was profoundly moved by the prisoners’ stories about their own families and the difficulties of managing visits. This painting portrays the bleak vista of the prison landings as the men wait for visiting time, and reminds us that the line of separation remains even during those brief intervals.
What a great sounding guy – and what a different world we’d live in if more people did what he did! Good luck with the new blog 🙂
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Thank you Helen
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There is a poignant scene in Mesrine when his daughter visits him in prison and they touch hands through the glass.
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Oh yes you’re right! Good film.
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Thank you for sharing this with me Amanda. I so loved Michael’s classes and all I learnt from him. I’m so lucky to have my own collection of his work to look at daily. Hilary
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Hi Hilary, that’s very good to hear! I’ll be posting 2/3 times a week so you’ll get to see some old friends!
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I grew up with Michael in Southampton. We both lived on Tennyson Road, went to St. Deny’s school together & I knew his folks quite well. I guess we went our separate ways and it was not until communicating with another school friend and neighbour this week (Feb 2015) that I learned of Mike’s artisistic qualities. A real surprise to me and very interesting art! Had I known this I’d have looked him up on my return visits to the UK. Sorry to hear he died so young but hope his family are doing well.
Stephen Davis/Toronto
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