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#imaginativerealism

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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Aug 04, 2026
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THE END OF NATURE V (2000) Acrylic on Canvas - 36" x 24" 

The title is meant as a double-entendre of sorts, something I enjoy doing with my personal work. 1/2 #fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #endofnature
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Jul 30, 2026
ISLAND (2007)
 Acrylic on Panel - 30" x 40" There is a long tradition of using the concept of “island” as a metaphor for the world as a whole, as in “This Island Earth.” This painting—the first in a series of works employing that metaphor—began as a meditation on the necessity for humanity to explore beyond the reaches of our immediate environs in space. 1/7 #fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Jul 28, 2026
PRUDENCE (1996) Acrylic on Panel - 12” x 11” The classical notion of Prudence is an important theme to me, as it was to the ancient Greeks. Possessing knowledge of the Past, and a desire and ability to order the Present so as to bring about a more ideal Future. https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/prudence/ #fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #virtues
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Jul 16, 2026
EQUANIMITY (2000) Oil on Panel - 12” x 9” As with so many others, this is a virtue I feel a lack of in my own life. The figure is meditating that equanimity is found in the contemplation of the fullness of time. 1/2 #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #virtues
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Jul 07, 2026
SENTINELS (1988)
 Acrylic on Canvas - 22” x 33” 

After more than a decade of continuous illustration work, this was my first non-commissioned painting. Who can resist imagining a peaceful world where children are enjoying nature and the symbols of war are falling into ruin? 1/6 #fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Jun 30, 2026
DOORWAY TO THE WEST (2006) 
Acrylic on Panel - 12” x 9” 

Another search for the light. Creating the illusion of texture in paint, the process of actually painting it, can be an act of meditation. If it were not so, the painting of all those rocks would be torture, especially for someone like me with an impatient nature. https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/doorway-to-the-west/ #fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #portals
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Jun 23, 2026
HIGHGATE MIST (2010) Acrylic - 10” x 8” Looking for sketching subjects, I started to seek out sculptures of angels and enjoyed using them as models. 1/2 #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Jun 18, 2026
LUMEN 6.2 (2001) Oil on Canvas - 48” x 42” From an idea I had been carrying around in my head since the late '70s. “Lumen” is a word with multiple meanings (light, cavity, window) and all the paintings in this series deliberately make use of them. In each one, there is a figure struggling to reach the light, seemingly trapped in a closed-in space by insurmountable obstacles. https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/lumen-62/ #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #fineart #lumen
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Jun 11, 2026
FREEFALL (2001) Acrylic on Panel - 12” x 12” Another small reflection in the “Faded Star” series of my gallery work. Like LEAP OF FAITH, this was a visual representation of the unease and excitement I felt at jumping into fine art painting with the barest of lifelines to sustain me. https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/freefall/ #art #fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism#fadedstar
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Jun 09, 2026
OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2014) Acrylic on Panel - 12” x 24” With this painting I revisit themes developed in my "Passage" series, featured heavily in my first couple of one-man shows at the Tree’s Place gallery. 1/3 #fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #passage #fadedstar
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · May 07, 2026
GENTLENESS (1997) Acrylic on Canvas - 11” x 13” Not a classical Virtue, but based on observing my young son with our aging family cat. It's how I hope we'll care for all the earth's creatures. https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/gentleness/ #fineart #personalvisions #virtues #imaginativerealism
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · May 05, 2026
THE ASTROPHYSICIST (2008)
 Acrylic - 24" x 36" When I started this painting, the major theme concerned the power of the human intellect to light our way into the universe. The balls in the picture came from a conversation I had with my son Adrian. 1/5 #fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism #neildegrassetyson
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MichaelWhelan
Michael Whelan @MichaelWhelan@mastodon.art · Apr 30, 2026
SUNFLOWER (2010) Acrylic on Panel - 12” x 18” It's her sanctuary...an echo of something I experienced when I was younger. Anyone familiar with my work will know how much I’m drawn to concrete. Images like this pop into my head at unexpected times. I attribute them all to my early childhood experiences playing in the cement tunnels and storm drains of LA and other Southwestern places. https://www.michaelwhelan.com/galleries/sunflower/ #fineart #personalvisions #imaginativerealism
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