About Mike Hoyt

A few words about Mike Hoyt

Mike Hoyt thinks of himself as a "southern impressionist." Taking a page from the French impressionists and modern American artists, such as Edward Hopper, Mike prefers to paint everyday surroundings and capture their hidden beauty. "There's something magic about an old barn or a shrimp boat or a broken-down tractor. Not only do they have interesting form, these subjects capture our warm, southern sunshine in interesting ways. Monet would have gone nuts here." Simple objects, warmth and color are the essence of Mike's work that is, as he says, "is a journey to unwrap the beauty of ordinary stuff."

The Florida native who now calls Raleigh, N.C., home began drawing and painting at an early age. He studied design at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and "poked around with art" for years before becoming a serious painter about a decade ago. He has studied with noted impressionist Lois Griffel at the Cape Cod School of Art, including workshops in France and Monhegan Island, Maine, home of the famous painters of the "Ashecan School." Mike has also studied painting at the Scottsdale Artists School under award-winning plein-air figure artist, Peggi Kroll-Roberts. He has painted in with impressionist Kevin MacPherson and others in France, New Mexico, New England and throughout the American South.

Mike is drawn to the vivid colors of his native south and especially the seacoast. Much of his work focuses on rural North Carolina, "the small towns, the old barns, the abandoned filling stations, the fields and marshes that are so much a part of our part of the countryside." But he also had been attracted by the rocky sea coast of New England, the desert Southwest, coastal South Carolina, the hills of East Tennessee and the hidden lakes of North Georgia. His favorite painting spot, though, is Southern France. "Provence has a warmth and magnetism all its own. The light is magnificent, the natural hues of the rocks and villages are bright and vivid, and the wine ain't too bad either," he says.

Some of his more recent paintings, inspired by Kroll-Roberts, are of children at play or the beach. "There's such great innocence and fun in this subject. And the light just dances all over the place." During a recent summer Mike spent time as an artist-in-residence at Camps Sea Gull and Seafarer on the North Carolina Coast where he taught and painted.

Recently, Mike's North Carolina works were featured in an exposition in Compiegne, France, attended by the U.S. Ambaasdor and members of the French National Assembly.

Is Hoyt trying to make a statement with his work? "Like most artists I know, I like to paint subjects that make me happy, that make me smile. I get real excited when I can turn something some folks may consider ordinary, or even ugly, into an interesting piece of work. Now, that's what turns me on about painting!"

Most weekends when it's warm, Mike can be found painting away with his dogs Mayzie and McGwire curled up at his feet "just about anyplace the sun is shining and people are friendly." And, in North Carolina, that ends up being almost anywhere.

Mike's work is collected in the U.S and Europe.including private collections, banks and major law firms. He is represented by the John Silver Gallery in Manteo, N.C., the Tyler-White Gallery in Greensboro, N.C., ArtSource in Raleigh, N.C., and the Frame Shop Gallery in Jacksonville, Fla.