Hobby turned profession: Exploring life as an Artist in Toronto with Michael Wills

Growing up just outside Toronto, Ontario, Michael Wills dedicated over 20 years of his life playing hockey. From an early age he showed passion for both the sport, as well as art. Hockey and painting have opened up many opportunities and experiences by allowing him to travel the world, and giving him the opportunity to grow as a person and find his voice as an artist. We had an amazing opportunity to sit down with Michael and get an in-depth look at what it really means to be an artist in Toronto, as well as how to take a hobby and turn it into a career.

How did your journey as an artist start? At what point did it transform from a hobby and passion into a profession?

My journey started out as a passion, practising as a discipline through school. I started selling art at 16 through outdoor art festivals, which gave me a sense of entrepreneurship at the time. I was on a hockey scholarship in the USA and had an art exhibition right at the end of the first season.

I can really see myself doing it and I wanted to try and see if I really like it.

I fell in love with hosting an exhibition, getting my work on the walls, and seeing them in interior design shops. This is when it transformed from a hobby to a profession for me, and I wanted to progress from a hockey player to an artist.

How do you balance painting with running your own business?

There are moments I have spurts of painting. I’ll take a break anytime I feel I need downtime, food or feel kind of tired. I’ll take care of some emails or reach out to others, and deal with the logistics of that. I’d like to get it done in the morning and get it out of the way but it comes in waves.

You have showcased your art outside Toronto, such as Miami and New York. What made you decide to expand into other cities outside Canada, and how do you find the audiences in relation to Toronto?

It’s weird;Canada is a more conservative place to buy.  They want a voice or a story behind a painting, where America is more consumer based; if they like it, they buy it. They are one of the highest places to buy art. I felt like I had to tap into both worlds in order get some sort of credit or status to become well known as an artist. I had the dream and goals to reach out to the world in that way, and I wanted to start off that way. Social media has been a huge platform to get my art out. People would reach out to me, messaging me that they like my paintings, and wanting to represent me.

Being known for your Oil Paintings, what enticed you to work with Oils? Have you experimented with other mediums?

The reason why I fell in love with oils was because in high school I found they work so smoothly. You have time to rework something if you make a mistake. My teachers made it interesting to learn about art history: Renaissance and Baroque periods. We learned about architecture and the religious side of art, how it was a crazy phenomenon where art was a major impact in the churches and royalty. I feel like it has faded a little bit through church and state. Any creative person who has researched design, architecture or art knows the history of it, and a lot of those painters worked in oil. In the back of your mind you know all those famous painters dabbled in oil, so that’s why I kind of started with it. But I’ve also experimented with acrylics. Right now I’m doing a series in acrylics; it’s more colourful and vibrant. I experimented with both oil and acrylics to see where I want to go with the series. In order to get the effect that I want I realized I have to use acrylic.

What/who inspires your collections? Does the art industry play a role in influencing your art?

Some of the biggest influences of today are Anna Razumovskaya, Todd White, Jose Parla, Jeremy Mann on Instagram known as Redrabbit7, JM Robert, and Blu Smith. They are pretty big influences in my art, just like the forefathers of art: Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Van Gough, Michelangelo, and Da Vinci.

The political aspect I’m learning is very interesting. People are looking for a story or a vision behind it each work. For example, we just had Edward Burtynsky at the ROM: a famous Canadian photographer. He flies all around the world and takes pictures of natural disasters we’ve created as humans.

How has your art evolved since you have started?

It’s been kind of crazy because it started out as more abstract, Jackson Pollack like, flicking acrylic paint on a canvas. Then I started getting more technical by painting cityscapes, not just standard ones but also kind of crazy cityscapes. From there I learned hyperrealism in school, and started doing more technical things like faces and hands. I went back into cityscapes because that’s what I liked at the time, and what I know best. I always seem to revert back to them because they are interesting to me; the lights and the night.

Currently i’m trying to do this new series of splatter effects the same way but with acrylics. I want to see if I can experiment to get almost the same effect if not a little bit different. I want to go back to that unfinished look because I think it’s going to be the next big thing.

What are you currently working on? How is it different from past projects?

Currently, I am working with more vibrant colours and acrylics splatter effect, almost like how the streets and city walls are breaking down and disintegrating. Plaster on brick, different raw textures, and the graffiti that you’ll see everywhere in city streets. I want to take those vibrant colours of graffiti and match it with the grunginess and unfinished look of the city. I am trying to combine that right now and match it with something beautiful like a woman’s face. I am trying to combine city and people together, because those two things are always connected. Hopefully I will get 8-10 pieces to put into a new exhibition soon.

What does your art aim to say to your audience?

How beautiful life is, and how vibrant it can be! Something we take for granted on a daily basis. After having surgery on my eyes I’m seeing all these new colours, and I wanted to portray that in my new series. For instance you go to a grocery store and see a mango that’s really yellow or a dragon fruit that’s so pink, things like that you take for granted. My last series was very dark because my eyes were fading. I was going blind.  After the surgery, I started seeing new colours but only after a few months.

Take time to appreciate the little things.

What is your superpower?

Eye to see detail! I notice lighting and composition in everything I see. I can see a plate and notice every shadow, contour and all its design aspects, where the light is hitting and where it’s not.

What advice would you give to other artists?

Follow your passion but do it at the fullest at 100%. If you’re going to dive into something, you should dive into it at 100% because only then you’ll reach your maximum potential.  A lot of times I hear, well I can’t draw as good as you, or I can only draw a stickman.  Well ok, I’ve learned to go beyond that but you’ve never tried to go beyond that. It’s the same as anything else; playing piano, learning a language, dancing, you have to learn and spend the time to do it.

Luck is preparation meets opportunity.

You prepare all those times, do the unseen hours and the opportunity comes. That’s why you’re lucky, it’s because you put in the time to do it.

Also, follow your heart. If you have a certain thing you want to paint, draw, and sculpt or anything, do it! Exhaust it until you’re finished with it, and if you love it that much, keep going. If you don’t, move on and keep experimenting that way.

What do you know now as an entrepreneur that you wish you knew when you started?

On the entrepreneurial side, know your value and your time that you are worth. As an artist, a lot of people will come after you through social media. Don’t get me wrong, it’s exciting to have the opportunities come your way but know when to walk away from them. Know if it’s a scam, or if they’ll actually going to do something for you. That’s when you should always counter offer every contract and offer they give you and see if they budge. If they really want you, then they will. You have to know which ones to go with, do your research.

The business side is ugly. Art is meant to be beautiful, but the business side of art is very ugly.

Where can we find your artwork? Will your collections be showcased at any upcoming events?

My work is available online on my website mainly. You can also find my paintings at UpCountry.

I am also working with Elaine Fleck at the Elaine Fleck Gallery, get my art in her gallery.

There will be and event in the spring at Tip Top Loft that I will be apart of. As well, when the new series is finished it will be part of an exhibition in Toronto.

You can also follow me on my Instagram and Facebook to stay connected.