Michael Dease was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has been drawing ever since he could hold a pencil in his hand. In High School, he spent most of his free time between classes in the Art Room. After graduating High School, Michael took drawing & design classes at the University of Minnesota, The School of Associated Arts and The Minneapolis College of Art & Design.
In 1987, Michael joined the Marine Corps intending to enter the graphics design department but within six months of graduating boot camp, the department was contracted to civilians. He was then stationed in Waikiki, Hawaii and he lived there for three years. It was at this time that Michael started drawing with charcoals and selling his work at an Artist Co-Op Gallery. This ended abruptly when he was shipped off to Bahrain to fight in Desert Storm. After the war, he started a career in Administration that took him to California, Atlanta and then back to Minneapolis. It was at this time that Michael and Elisa crossed paths while she was touring with the band Savage Garden performing in Minneapolis. Their fateful courtship began and eventually Michael re-located to California to be with Elisa. They were married on May 19, 2002.
Settled and happy with where he is in his life, Michael is finally able to spend his time pursuing his passion for Art. His style of work could be called Photo-Realistic. The work he does is mostly based on the human figure. The qualities that make his drawings so unique are the composition, cropping and his exceptional attention to detail. Any future pieces of Michael’s Art will be showcased on the Gallery page.
“He is not only a wonderful husband & friend…but his talent just blows me away.” Elisa Dease Fiorillo
