Michael Breyette

Originally from remote upstate New York near the Canadian border, Michael can’t remember a time when he didn’t draw or paint.  When he was a teenager he satisfied his fascination with the male physique by painting muscular heroes in fantasy or sci-fi settings.  However he attempted to avoid too many questions about his sexuality by often including a buxom female character as well. Michael never expected his pastime of drawing and painting would become a career.  Born and bred in a conservative and rural area, being openly gay didn't even seem a possibility, let alone having an artistic career that indulged in homoerotica.  It wasn't until moving away many years later that Michael was able to open up and be the man and the artist that he is today.   

Upon moving to a more progressive region of the USA, his artwork, which had been selftaught and a lifelong hobby, blossomed and evolved as he began expressing his true self on his drawing board as well as in his life.  His infatuation for the male form took his art in a more self-expressive direction. During this same period he transitioned from oils to soft pastels.  Thus began his journey of creating beautiful masculine paintings primarily with fingers, and as he refers to pastels, “colorful dust.” 

While attractive athletic male physiques are a cornerstone of his work he thinks of the figures he creates not as the focus but as messengers of moments, ideas, and emotions he’s wishing to express.