It’s hard to imagine looking at these lumiscent paintings that have been described as, “underwater seascapes” or “celestial constellations,” and know Michael Schultheis has been a mathematician most of his life, and only started painting about 15 years ago.
“I’ve never taken an art class,” he admits. His work recently appeared at J. Willott Gallery in Palm Desert and will become part of their permanent collection. Schultheis’ works will also be featured at the J. Willott Gallery booth at Art Palm Springs, Feb. 17-19, at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
Schultheis grew up poor on a wheat farm and ranch, but his aptitude caught the attention of his high school math teacher. “She told me that if I wanted out of there, I could write my own ticket,” he recalls.
Luminary Passacaglias by Michael Schultheis.
A full ride to Washington State University was followed by graduate school at Cornell, where Schultheis studied ecometrics — a mesh of economics and mathematics, he says. There, he had a teacher from Delhi who wrote equations on a green slate chalkboard.
“It was amazing to watch her work. There would be this nebulous cloud of chalk dust after she’s write an equation, and then erase it in the middle. The erasure and chalk would build up layer upon layer,” Schultheis explains. “It was atmospheric and very, very pretty. “
When Schultheis worked on Excel software for Microsoft in Seattle, he would create a similar visual, only in black-and-white with markers. “After the day’s work, I would take a picture of our whiteboards. It was a picture of a mindscape, not a landscape,” he says.
Schultheis left Microsoft in 2000 to pursue an art career painting mindscape. His husband of 22 years was supportive of this career change. “He told me to go for it,” he says
One of Schultheis’ early influencers was Vasily Kandinsky, whose art arrived at the idea of total abstraction. “Concentric Circles,” by Kandinsky was Schulthesis’ favorite, which was a colorful portrayal of circles done in 1917. “But Kandinsky’s concentric circles were not really circles, and they were not concentric, “ Schultheis explains. “They were painted by an artist in the physical realm.”
Michael Schultheis painted Concentric Harmonies in tribute to Vasily Kandinsky, whose work inspired him.
By contrast, Schlthesis’ paintings include real concentric circles and the mathematical equations that coincide with them. “These circles can get larger and larger until they jump off the canvas and eventually touch both of our birthplaces,” he explains.
Kandinsky’s circles look like circles, but they are approximate circles, more like waves when you drop a pebble into a pond,” he says. “It’s a wonderful thing that Kandinsky gave us, and my paintings are a homage to Kandinsky because he has lead me down this path.”
Schultheis works with equations building layer upon layer. When a painting is done, it’s not unusual for Schultheis to have 30 layers of acrylic paint. “These paintings are where I can explore my ideas,” he says.
His interests lie in the space in between the concentric circles. He explores the Geo models on how people meet their soul mates, for example. They can span the globe before they “bonk” into each other, much like tether balls on a pole, he says.
“I like painting the interior relationships. What does it look like? It changes all the time,” he says.
Concentric Curves for Vasily Kandinsky.
With his paintings of mathematical equations, Schultheis is able to reach people on a deeper level, including other mathematicians who understand his equations.
“A physicist once told me that a painting that he bought of mine helped him get through radiation therapy. He said that he could see what I was seeing,” Schultheis says.
But you don’t have to understand math to appreciate Schultheis’ work.
“Most people who buy his work appreciate it on a visual level. It’s cool and interesting, “ says Josh Paquette, one of the owners of the J. Willott Gallery. “Then they find out it was created by a guy who is so deep inside that side of the brain. And then it has another meaning to them.”
J. Willott Gallery, 73300 El Paso, Palm Desert, 760-568-3180; www.jwillott.com
Art Palm Springs, Feb. 17-19, Palm Springs Convention Center, 277 N. Avenida Caballeros, www.art-palmsprings.com
VIDEO: View Michael Schultheis at work.