The final commission for the Goya inspired wine labels has now been marketed by the Prisoner Wine Company in California.

  

Mike has been commissioned  by brand and packaging agent Co-Partnership to create etchings for the Prisoner Wine Company based on Goya's 'Little Prisoner' used on their iconic Red Blend label (centre bottle). The commission came about through seeing his art on instagram which had visual connections with the original. 

Mike's remit has been to continue this theme through a series of etchings which reflect Goya's original technique and vision, as though the same prisoner has been depicted in different aspects of struggle and hope throughout the series.

Two of Mike's etchings from the 'City Fragments' series have been acquired by Leeds City Art Gallery. They have been included in the Picture Lending Scheme Collection and can be borrowed for a nominal charge at one of the quarterly selection days at the gallery.

Mike is currently Artist in Residence at the Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley (West Yorkshire) in preparation for a large solo exhibition there in July 2020.

Mike will be exhibiting a new series of 20 Monoprint 'Quandary Heads' at the Biscuit Factory in Newcastle. This one is titled 'Zoom' Oil on Paper 45 x 60cms

"When an image becomes too defined, or too easily known, it can lose some of the mystery that keeps us engaged. I have to work at losing the image and a fixed narrative. It's a fine line between ambiguity and being completely inaccessible. There has to be an allure without resulting in complacency."





'Cluster Head' 2014 Dry-point and watercolour 35x35cm