Michael Stasinos

Michael Stasinos was born in Canoga Park, CA, but now calls Seattle home. He attended Southern Utah University for his undergraduate degree. Over the years following he has taken many jobs and life experiences, including seasonal work in the Pacific Northwest fishing industry, where he first discovered the uniqueness of Seattle.  He has lived in many places including Savannah, GA; Missoula, MT and Kenai, AK and New York City.

Michael’s education began as an actor before he turned to art. He has been a studio and figurative artist for many years.  As an Instructor he has taught figure drawing and painting with a strong perceptual and theatrical approach towards developing compositions. In recent years he has given himself time to create cityscapes as well. Teaching himself color through landscape painting seemed logical, but he never thought much about the expressive potential of landscape painting. For many of these cityscapes and paintings, he looked for the views that caught his eye on a daily walk. He tries to be sensitive to the contribution the environment has to supporting a subtle narrative in painting. His hope is to convey a slice from everyday life. Establishing accuracy without loosing the energy of the work is a constant challenge.

Michael received his MFA (Cum Laude) from The New York Academy of Art in 1996. He has taught figure drawing at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle between 1998 and 1999. He began teaching at The Academy of Realist Art in 1998 (now known as Gage Academy of Fine Art). Michael also taught Painting at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA from 2003 until 2022.