Michael Cross was born in a small southeast Kansas town where his talent for painting and interest in nature were evident early. Family, friends, and teachers nurtured and encouraged this talent through high school. While in college at New Mexico State University studying engineering the paintings continued, influenced by the forms and colors of the nearby mountains of the desert southwest. After college and years spent in a variety of technical and staff jobs from California to Texas, Michael has for the past 20 years been able to pursue his painting career full time. He has been included in many juried exhibits winning various awards, and has served on Public Art Selection Panels. He was a volunteer docent for two years at the Asian Art Collection in Dallas, giving public tours of the collection. His own paintings are in private collections around the country. Working from his studio in Mesquite, Texas, he has developed a completely abstract painting style where the forms and movement experienced in nature translate into paintings with an overall atmospheric effect. Viewers sometimes sense an underlying structure to the work that hints at the influence of engineering training from the artist's past. And to this artist, what the viewer sees is valuable. It is important to have the painting seen by others, so it can really come alive. As Michael says, "When I start a painting, I am starting a conversation based on my experience. Each viewer then brings her or his own unique experience to the artwork, which adds to and continues the conversation."