"When Michael Flohr attended the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, experimenting with all disciplines and styles. In his final year he was accepted into the prestigious New York Society of Illustrators, joining such luminaries as Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish. He took his degree in 2000. Three of his student works were selected for exhibition at San Francisco's M.H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park, the city's oldest public art museum.

After graduation, Michael Flohr traveled extensively in Europe. In Rome, a candlelit exhibition of Monet's work left a lasting impression. He also studied the work of Manet, Pisarro, Degas, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Back home he synthesized all this powerful input into his own unique style. Flohr's style has been described as a combination of avant-garde, abstract expressionism and impressionism. "I love the colors of Cezanne," says Flohr, who also favors pure pigment straight from the tube.

He can be seen around town in nightclubs, bars and cafes, sketchbook in hand, capturing the shifting colors and dynamics of people as they mingle and interact. "I do not work with models. I prefer to sketch 'in the moment' as a scene unfolds." reports Flohr. The artist has recently been commissioned to create an album cover for jazz/swing musician David Patrone, a uniquely apt collaboration.

"The challenge is not to make a painting look overdone, but to synthesize a scene down to its essence, he says, likening the technique to that of john Singer Sargent's, using the least number of brushstrokes.

"I want to show that a painting doesn't have to be challenging. It can just be something that pleases your eye. It doesn't have to have a meaning. You don't have to dissect it. Enjoy its beauty and what it brings to you."

Imagine a street scene at night when it has just got done raining. There's a window above with an orange light reflected in a puddle below. Maybe this reminds you of nights you've been out, and where you have been,and with whom. Michael captures those moments in time that bring back memories to the viewer through his paintings and limited edition prints.