by Michele Malinchak
He doesn’t remember how old he was, but Michael Budden knew early on that he had a rare talent. He recalls it surfacing during the late 1960s, probably in the third or fourth grade. “I drew a poster of an alligator and knew it looked right,” he said. His teacher also took notice and so his long artistic journey began. Now painting for more than 40 years, his versatility of style and subject matter has grown considerably over time. He began painting North American wildlife but has since branched out to include landscapes, seascapes and urban scenes.
Composition, mood and lighting are important considerations when he paints. His goal is to capture a moment in time in a particular spot and explained, “It's the light that grabs you. Makes you stop and look and want to paint.”
Whatever the subject—a grizzly bear, a gondola in Venice, festive parade floats or a day at the beach—you get the sense you are right there experiencing what he sees. He paints both plein air and out of his New Jersey studio. When he paints on location, his work tends to be looser and freer in style, while his studio work leans more towards realistic representation, or what he calls impressionistic realism.
“When I was younger,” he said, “I discovered the art of Claude Monet and loved it, so I tried painting outdoors and enjoyed the struggle and progress I made with each new attempt. Although I still do a lot of studio painting, I have returned to this pure reaction approach to the beautiful stimuli I encounter every day, hopefully with a learned eye and honed skills.”
He works from a limited palette consisting of: white, black, cadmium yellow lemon, cadmium orange pure, alizarin crimson permanent (red), ultramarine blue, cerulean blue hue and sometimes sap green. “I do experiment with other colors,” he said, “but mainly work from these."
He begins by loosely sketching in his subject with a brush, then blocking in sections of color, moving from dark to light values. He works lean to fat, applying the paint thinly in the beginning and heavier towards the end.
He enjoys studying various periods in art history and especially likes realism and impressionism. Mike studied art at Mercer County Community College and the College of New Jersey from 1976-1980 receiving degrees from both.
Michael Budden was born in Trenton, NJ in 1957, the middle child of three boys. He first lived in Hamilton Township and later moved to Bordentown, NJ around 1969. The move was pivotal for him. “It was a great change for me personally,” he said. Whether it was a more relaxed place to live or that his teachers clicked with him, “I blossomed as an artist from there on,” he said. Michael's mother especially supported his art, providing opportunities and pushing all of her boys to succeed.
After graduating from Bordentown Regional High School and later college, he set his sights on teaching art but found it difficult to pass any of the interviews. Fate, it seemed, had other plans for him, and he began painting in earnest. He started doing landscapes but sensed they were lacking something. “I thought they could benefit from some wildlife,” he said.
It turned out he excelled at painting wildlife and became incredibly successful at it. From the early 1980’s through 1994 he won over 100 awards in shows across the country and his paintings appeared on collector plates, cards and calendars raising awareness for wildlife preservation. He went from selling his work at just hundreds of dollars to thousands in a period of roughly two years.
Today Michael's paintings can be found in many private and corporate collections as well as the collections of three museums dedicated to wildlife art: the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI; the Hiram Blauvelt Wildlife Museum, Oradell, NJ; and the Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT.
Over time, wildlife art wasn’t selling as well and more contemporary styles of painting were becoming popular. “I needed a wider audience,” he said. In 1989, he became dissatisfied with studio painting and was introduced to plein air painting by a friend in Montana. The two met for a week in Yellowstone Park where they painted amidst the destruction of the 1988 wildfires.
During the 1990’s he focused on painting landscapes and seascapes and in a short while began winning awards for his work. Also during this time, tragedy struck when his father-in-law died suddenly.
Mike recalled, “We were building our new house in 1993 back then and would visit the property." He remembers going out for breakfast with his father-in-law one day and the next day he was gone. His passing had an immediate impact on Mike, driving him to get a regular job and take care of his family.
A teaching opportunity arose at Palmyra High School in Palmyra, NJ. where they were looking for not only an art teacher, but someone to start the junior high boys’ basketball program. Mike had been playing a lot of basketball with a group of teachers while he was substituting at Northern Burlington County Regional High School, so he fit the bill nicely.
In 2006, he changed subject matter again and began painting urban scenes. His cityscapes of New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and Washington, D.C. highlight iconic landmarks and street scenes. In his NYC paintings, intimate vistas of the Brooklyn Bridge, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Statue of Liberty and even hot dog vendors capture the verve of city life.
Mike has painted several versions of the triangular shaped Flatiron Building in NYC. “The Flatiron is special to me because it was the first skyscraper painting won a major award at the Salmagundi Club in NYC. It is within a short walk from the Salmagundi Club and I have visited it often when I was actively painting NYC scenes.”
Of all the versions, perhaps the most haunting is “Flatiron Circa 1902.” Complete with gaslit street lamps and a horse drawn carriage, the scene is veiled in mist and takes us back to another era.
Claudia Seymour, former president of Salmagundi Club, said of Mike, “He has a gift for capturing light so clearly that it defines a moment in time and space that is evocatively real.”
In the painting pictured here, “Evening Transitions, New Hope Lambertville Bridge,” Mike further demonstrates his ability to magically render light.
While most of his landscapes lack people, he includes figures in several of his seascapes and urban scenes, such as the award winning painting, “The Lunch Crowd.” Here we see New Yorkers huddled on a bench eating lunch while hungry pigeons hover at their feet.
Mike has won many awards throughout his career, and one of several highlights was designing the 2006 White House Easter Egg representing New Jersey. He met First Lady Mrs. Laura Bush during the unveiling of the exhibit at the White House where he and his family got a tour.
He’s been a consistent award winner at the Salmagundi Club, twice winning the coveted Arthur T. Hill Memorial Award and the Alden Bryan Memorial Award for Traditional Landscape in Oil. In 2008 he won the Vezin Purchase Award for his painting, “Flatiron,” which hangs alongside the work of some of the most important American painters. In addition, his art has been featured in magazines such as American Art Review, The Artists Magazine, Wildlife Art News and Midwest Art. He is also featured in three books: Newfound Inspiration, showcasing his paintings of NYC, 100 Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic and Stars and Stripes, the American Flag in Contemporary Art.
Mike is a signature member the following art organizations: Allied Artists of America, American Artists Professional League, Audubon Artists and American Society of Marine Artists. In 2012 he received one of his most prized awards, being selected into the Bordentown Regional High School Alumni Hall of Fame. “I’m extremely honored that someone thinks that I have achieved enough to be honored with this award,” he said.
Mike and his wife, Barbara, have two daughters and help care for two grandsons. Kayden, age five, has inherited the art gene and shows interest while eight-year-old Mason has a head for collecting and business so far.
After teaching and coaching for 30 years, Mike looks forward to retiring this year. He’ll be able to paint full-time again plus spend more time fishing, playing pickle ball and traveling. “I have been extremely lucky in my career as an artist,” he said. “I continue to search, to get better as an artist and I feel my best is yet to come.”
Locally his works are available at the Canal Frame Crafts Gallery, 1093 General Greene Road, Washington Crossing, PA. For more information, call 215.493.3660 or visit www.canalframe.com
For a complete listing of galleries, other awards and examples of his art, visit www.michaelbudden.com.
Michele Malinchak is a freelance writer who has a degree in art and enjoys oil painting.