“A Passion for Preservation”

“A Passion for Preservation”

Western Kansas artist Mike Boss has a passion for preservation that has enthralled aviation, space, and railroad enthusiasts for decades. A painter most of his life, early on he was introduced to a big world and the much larger cosmos. He was quite aware that painting and history were linked. While growing up, Mike could be found reading “Fighting the Flying Circus”, “men’s” magazines with swash-buckling illustrations, and books on dinosaurs and outer space.

After graduating from high school, Mike majored in music as a double bass player. He studied music at Southern Illinois University and Kansas State University, and art under the close guidance of one of America’s finest artists, the renowned commercial illustrator, and Mike’s childhood hero, the great late Jack Leynnwood of Los Angeles, California.

The vehicle Mike uses to present each work of art varies from the flexibility of acrylic or the sensational texture of oil on stretched linen, to the velvety rich colors of casein or the subtle opaque look of gouache on illustration board. “I know the look I want, and I know which medium it takes to get exactly what I want.”

Mike is not troughed into being a genre painter of one or two subjects. “Life is way too short and there are so many, many things to paint. And sadly, with any artist, they won’t all happen.” He has won his share of awards, but this is not of primary importance. The greatest award is the look on people’s faces when the ideas in the painting “hit.” He loves when a chord is struck and viewers go away with a piqued interest in a subject.

And with Mike, when the chord strikes, it hits like a musical arpeggio. Rarely is sketching involved in his works, just paint, brushes, and the passionate inspiration of a maestro. “When I see something I like, I get the idea, and I just rock with it… making changes as I go along.”


Mike’s transition into the Germans from Russia began with a photograph that revealed a surprising aspect to rural life in Herzog, Russia. “Seeing the camels, I was hooked.” Uncompromising for detail, Mike does extensive research before the canvas ever hits the easel. His quest for background information led him to realize just how much torment and anguish these people had endured.

While many were able to escape the growing Russian tyranny in the late 1800’s, emigrating to North America, South America, and Canada, many others were not so fortunate. Under Lenin’s rule, the Russian government ruthlessly handed down death sentences in the early 1920’s in the form of controlled famine. The horrors of those years were surpassed only by the introduction of the Terror Famine in the early ‘30s by the dictator’s handpicked predecessor, Josef Stalin.

Then came 1941. Fearing German collaboration with the Nazis, Stalin ordered immediate, mass deportations of the Volga-German people to Siberia and Central Asia. Their strength, courage, and ability to survive… even after repeated, extreme levels of persecution, poverty, and starvation… cemented Mike’s passion to tell their story by preserving pieces of their past in his paintings.

Much is said about the life of the Volga-Germans in the silence of the canvas. Deep religious convictions are evident in the magnificent architecture of their churches. The extreme persecution suffered is unmistakable with the reality of how many of these grand structures were eventually aggressively destroyed and left to decay by the Communist regime.

The power of their faith is witnessed as they fervently paralleled, often even exceeding, the magnificent structural design of their former places of worship as they settled in new parts of the world. Poverty and hardship, even as they began new lives, were secondary.

Steve Schreiber, Aviation Director at the Port of Portland in Oregon, maintains one of the largest Volga-German sites on the web. Schreiber, a member of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR) had this to say about Boss:

“Michael Boss is a talented professional artist from western Kansas who has brilliantly captured scenes from the lives of ethnic German settlers in Russia’s Volga River valley. This group came to Russia during the time of Catherine the Great and prospered until Stalin’s forced deportation of the Volga Germans to Siberia and Kazakhstan in 1941. Prior to 1941, large groups of German Russians settled in the United States, Canada, and South America where they continue to celebrate their culture.

The rich heritage and spirit of the Volga-Germans is wonderfully presented in Michael’s work. He really has the ability to capture the essence of the VG settlements. I feel like he brings the buildings and people back to life - restoring them to the pre-Stalin era when the towns and villages were prospering."

Michael Boss' art is in many private, corporate, and public collections including the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, Tucson, AZ, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., and the Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, NE.

He is believed to be the first American artist to paint a series of historical accounts reflecting the life of our friends and relatives remaining in the old country… the Germans from Russia.

Many of these works will be displayed June 10-17th, during the 2007 AHSGR International Convention in Hays, Kansas. In addition to his paintings, Mike will also be speaking at the Conference from 3:15-4:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 13, 2007.

More information on the Volga-German paintings and other works of Mike Boss can be found on the following websites:


http://www.volgagermans.net/volgagermans/

http://www.commercemarketplace.com/home/CollectAir/index.html

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/huckboyd/02ksprof.htm

http://www.fatemag.com

http://www.1421.tv/gallery.asp




Contacts:

Mike Boss, Artist, P.O. Box 23, Hill City, KS 67642
Phone: 785-421-6300 wheaterdog@yahoo.com

Steve Schreiber webmaster@volgagermans.net

Sunell Koerner, 306 West 38th St., Box 321, Hays, KS 67601
Phone/Fax: 785-623-4140 kmaprod@ruraltel.net




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Mike Boss “A Passion for Preservation”
03/08/07