Michael W. Prairie

Watercolor Artist

Born in 1961, South Hadley, Massachusetts

Resides and works in Northfield, Vermont

Background

After a brief time with a brush long ago and long hiatus afterward, I have renewed the journey to find my voice in watercolor.

I began painting in the 1980’s as I was beginning a career in the US Air Force. About a year or so into it I put the brushes on the shelf to make way for a growing family and professional goals. Ten years of engineering work followed Air Force retirement, and then I took a serendipitous opportunity to teach at my alma mater for the next 16 years while art waited patiently.

A vacation cruise on the schooner American Eagle in 2022 included a watercolor class that prompted me to take the art supplies off the shelf—and they refused to go back! I have since retired from teaching, and now I am focusing on the art that I longed to create.

Painting

Beauty exists wherever one looks—even if one has to look a bit deeper. It may be in objects themselves, the interplay of light and their shadows, or how the elements seemingly gesture to other parts of an abstract structure. Perceiving these things exposes the beauty of the whole that can surpass that of the parts. I use watercolor to give a stronger voice to these oftentimes overlooked details and subtle contexts in our world. My paintings provide an opportunity to better sense their significance to the underlying presence of beauty.

Mentors

1987 Stuart Cummins, New Carlisle, OH

2022-25 Carol Douglas, Rockport, ME

Exhibitions

2023 Class of 1983 Scholarship Auction, Green Mountain Lodge at Mount Ellen, Warren, Vermont

2024 “Women Kicking Glass” Scholarship Auction, Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont

2024 Vermont Watercolor Fall Awards Show, Artistree Gallery, South Pomfret, Vermont

2025 Green Mountain Watercolor Exhibition, Red Barn Galleries at Lareau Farm and Forest, Waitsfield, Vermont

2025 Vermont Watercolor Society Members Show, Red Barn Galleries at Lareau Farm and Forest, Waitsfield, Vermont

2025 Vermont Watercolor Society Hub Show, Axel’s Frame Shop and Gallery, Waterbury, Vermont