Michael Goettee, a former staff artist for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution and magazine art director, was born in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended the University of Florida and received bachelors degrees in Advertising and Art (with honors). He moved to Atlanta in 1976 to begin a career in graphic design and art direction. He’s been a resident of the City of Avondale Estates, in the Atlanta Metro area since 2001. In 2008, he chose early retirement to pursue full-time fine art painting, specializing in art of the American Southwest.
Fine Art Credits and Awards:
Numerous commissions; several solo exhibitions including a 2016 solo exhibition at the Booth Western Art Museum. Purchases by the Booth Western Art Museum and The Columbus Museum of Art; The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Cologne, Germany; Xavier Roberts (creator of the Cabbage Patch Dolls). Awards include Best in Show and First Place for two paintings in the Artists Guild of Northwest Georgia juried exhibition in 2011, “People’s Choice Award” in 2012 and Second Place for painting in their 2009 exhibition. He was accepted as one of ten artists in Santa Fe’s Arroyo Gallery for their 2011 “Southwest Contemporary Realism” exhibition. He was on the board of the Avondale Arts Alliance for three years, serving as vice president during his last year. He hosted monthly “Artists Coffees” for artists in the Atlanta area for four years.
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In October, 2016 his large mixed media piece, “Red Butte With Tourists” is part of “The New Westward” exhibition at the Tucson Museum of art.
Artist’s Statement:
Someone asked me to describe my art, and immediately I thought “Western art with a salted rim and a quirky twist of lime.” From my childhood comes the rich memory of cowboy suits and cap-gun shoot-outs from behind the garage. My brother and I were Saturday Morning Buckaroos. We crumpled to the floor in front of the TV when Gabby Hayes claimed “Sugar Pops” were shot from guns and a big gun full of cereal blasted out of the screen. But that “salted rim and lime” reference speaks of my grown-up, sometimes humorous, take on the matter.
My first visit to Santa Fe in 1995 not only rekindled those childhood memories, but gave me new ideas about color and subject matter. It reminded me that I can still be awed by things, just as I was as a kid, like the majesty of the landscape and the richness of the diverse cultures and how they colored each other. I want to share that with you. I want to make you smile and remember. I want to make you think of things in a different way. I want you to go out and buy some crazy boots and dance with me through my version of the Wild West, and occasionally somewhere else. And of course I want you to buy some art.
http://michaelgoettee.com