Artist of the month works in spray paint

Local artist Mike Montgomery has been named Artist of the Month by the Clarke Area Arts Council and has various pieces of his work on display at the CAAC Art Wall in the Lakeside Casino events entrance lobby through mid October.

Montgomery is a painter, but not a typical one. Instead of a brush, he uses spray paint to create scenes on poster board, canvas, furniture and walls.

“It started out as just a hobby, then I had people asking me, ‘Can you make this? Can you make that?’ and now I do custom work,” said Montgomery.

His spray paintings can take anywhere from 30 minutes to three or more days to complete, depending on size and detail of the piece.

Montgomery’s work can be seen all around Osceola. He has spray paint art in the high school, in City Hall, at Gina’s Cakes and he even has donated a piece to the Blank Park Zoo.

“It’s my stress relief,” said Montgomery.

His love of art goes back to his childhood. In his hometown of State Center there is a mural on the side of a building painted from an image that Montgomery drew on paper for a school contest in fifth grade. Montgomery has been spray painting for three years and has had no lessons or formal training to learn. He has learned to spray paint from watching YouTube videos and spending a lot of time honing his skill.

“It takes a lot of practice. It takes a lot of time,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery’s wife, Danice, has been a big encouragement and source of inspiration for his art. He also enjoys watching Bob Ross videos and getting ideas from those. Many of Montgomery’s nature paintings have been inspired by Bob Ross videos. He has also painted historical scenes, like the Titanic, and cartoons or superheroes for children’s furniture.

He encourages others who enjoy art to take it up, learn and practice as much as they can.

“Art’s a great thing to get into. If you have a passion for something, don’t give it up,” said Montgomery.

He plans to continue his spray paint art and selling it through his business, Mike’s Spray Paint Art.

“I just want to grow bigger and bigger,” said Montgomery. “I think that’s any artist’s goal.”

Montgomery can be contacted via Facebook at Mike Montgomery, email at mikey_50213@yahoo.com or by phone at 515-442-6296 to order or purchase art.