Prelude and Mirage, both small vertical, oil on panel paintings - employ a method of additive and subtractive painting used by Michael when working on wood. These paintings have layers that were sanded, scraped and repainted many times. The sanding process reveals the underpainting, creating a dynamic and smooth surface for new paint to be added. In this process, an image emerges that conveys the spaces of sea, sky, mists, fog and landscape. It is a discovered image, an abstraction of a landscape or seascape that is ultimately what the process reveals.