Built one line at a time

For Michael Thieme, the path to art is exactly that -- a path.

Thieme, who works under the name Mikel Patrik, said his art is almost a by-product of the process it takes to create it.

"I didn't set out to paint pretty pictures. It's the study of a process and the result ends up being a nice image," he said.

Each piece is a slow process that studies exactness, proportion, scale and color.

"It's a controlled process of color, adjacency and parity. I paint one line at a time."

His "Pixel" piece, for example, is comprised of hundreds of tiny, precise brush strokes. He's even created the image in all white, resulting in a piece that looks extremely textured.

Thieme said he didn't want to paint subjects that would force viewers to interpret his intentions. It's the same reason he won't name his art with anything other than the concept used to create it: "Pixel," "Stitch" and "Strata."

In describing his "Stitch" concept, Thieme said, " 'Stitch' is comprised of both vertical and horizontal lines. The unique process of line placement and design of these pieces create naturally inherent depth on the canvas. The final result expresses the vision of colors woven across the canvas."

Because his art is created using a specific concept, it can easily be adapted in a range of sizes or color combinations. He works in acrylics on canvas.

His favorite color is hot pink. In fact, he said he is known for wearing hot pink socks. Thieme said he likes the boldness of the color and is fascinated with how it interacts and changes when painted next to a bold teal shade, black or white.

Raised outside of Chicago in Naperville, he studied architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His career took him to the Southwest, moving to Las Vegas in 2005. In 2009, after spending 10½ years as an architect, he decided to focus on his art.

"My art is a direct relation to my experience as an architect," Thieme said.

Thieme's work can be seen at his gallery space inside Emergency Arts downtown and on his website, mikelpatrik.com.

Earlier this month, his work was included in a home built for a Utah family whose son has two rare blood disorders and featured on the ABC show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

He said that collaboration came about by accident. A public relations firm he is working with to help promote his art was meeting with one of the executive producers of the show. That person was relating the difficulties the show had getting artwork for the homes they were building.

"It just was the right person at the right time," Thieme said.

Once the show decided to use his work in the house, the entire process took about 12 hours of phone calls and emails to select the right pieces and color palettes.

"It was 12 hours of intense back and forth communication and brain-storming as my team worked closely with the executive producer, design team and local print shop to provide modifications to my original work for installation in the Gomez home," he said.

Much of his work was done in collaboration with designer Michael Moloney.

"I am blown away by what they accomplish. It really is all done in a week," Thieme said.

Since Thieme scans his work into a computer, he said it is easy to change color schemes through Photoshop. Although his original artwork was painted in shades of teal, with the computer program he was able to change it into earthtones of sage, beige and brown. In all, eight printed giclee reproductions of his "Strata" and "Stitch" concepts were hung in the house.

"My hope is that the recipient enjoys the art as much as I have enjoyed bringing this result into her new home."

Even though his participation in the project was long distance and just a small part of the overall design of the home, Thieme said he was humbled by the experience and honored to contribute to such a great cause.

"I watch the show all the time. It's all about giving back to the community," he said noting that his artwork was donated to the family.

In addition to the show, Thieme's work was part of the "Haute Chroma" exhibit that opened in mid-September at the T. Clifton Art gallery in Memphis, Tenn. The exhibit explores the use of color through the works of two artists, Thieme and Marc James Villanueva of Atlanta. The two had never met before the show.

When he's not painting, Thieme is a partner in m(P)3, an interior design firm, with Patrick Peel.