Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Schuessler.
Hi Michael, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Michael ‘Star Dancer’ Schuessler
My journey in becoming the artist that I am today has been long, somewhat challenging, yet beautiful.
When I was 4, my mother emigrated from Germany to the USA, seeking a better life for us.
From a young age, she instilled creativity in me, including the newspaper feature “DRAW ME.”
I drew the “DRAW ME” head, sent it in, and was accepted into their program—this was my catalyst and my beginning.
After that, I felt I could explore and create new and different types of works.
I continued developing my art with increasing confidence and support from family. I was allowed to paint large Murals in each and every home we lived in. Using the left over paint we had from the move.
At the young age of 12, I sold and displayed my first commission piece of art to the Post Master General in Larkspur Colorado. Giving me my first taste of the business side of creating Art and the possibilities that lay before me. Over time, I found myself moving further into the art world, gaining experience and learning the deeper meaning behind what I was creating.
My art carries a spiritual essence—Having spent my whole life in the study and pursuit of the Healing & Spiritual Arts and Practices; my works flow with this same style and essence. In the beginning; I start by building the canvas ‘The Body’ and then stretching the canvas, ‘The Skin’. I then add the breath of life to it, ‘the Color and Movement’. Finally adding form and definition to its personality by using, Gold, Sterling and Copper leafs with sprinkles of Mica. This Completing its true Essence.
I believe the spirit and body of the work are connected.
The art is meant to reach people emotionally and spiritually, not just visually.
Over the last 40 plus years, I have shown in many galleries and had different Gallery representation.
These galleries helped bring my work to people and supported my growth as an artist.
In the 90’s to early 2000’s, I had two different Studio Galleries, one on 22nd St. and one on Larimer Street in Colorado.
My studio was also voted One of the Top 5 Studios in Denver C0. By CBS Channel 4.
I’m now in a new phase of doing Fine Art Shows, and Fine Art Expositions, doing this all over the country.
This stage allows me to promote the work through direct engagement with people.
My goal is to continue connecting with hearts and minds through my art—helping others feel uplifted and opened, allowing them to truly experience my works and the connection they create within.
Along with the traveling Fine Art Shows and the 3 month Expos; For over a decade, I have also Curated and Promoted the ‘Telluride Autumn Classic Fine Arts Show’, featuring and supporting some of the Finest Artists throughout the country, including myself.
Please check out my web links for my upcoming shows and exhibitions rounding this 2026 – year out; Colorado’s – Evergreen Fine Arts Festival; The Summerlin Festival of Arts – Las Vegas, and lastly The North Shore Fine Art Expo In Chicago Illinois, I was one of 40 artists that were blessed by being privately invited to participate in this boutique Fine Arts Exhibition.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Obstacles or challenges in art are real, but I don’t let them silence me.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing it the right way— but if I keep in mind that I do nothing of myself, that Spirit works through me, and that I am a channel for Spirit to manifest life into the canvas through color and movement, allowing the viewer to connect to that Vibration thus hearing the work speak to them, I know all else will come!
Selling my creativity can feel scary and uncertain at times, and the process can pull me toward doubt and insecurity, but only If I forget the above thoughts of Spirit working through me, rather then making it all about “Me, Myself and I”
There are practical worries: Where do I sell it? How do I share it? What if it is not accepted or appreciated in a particular area?
But I remember something important: my job isn’t to control every outcome. My job is to keep creating, keep breathing, and keep sharing that light. Even when it’s hard, I can offer something small—like a smile, a thought, or a warm embrace—through my art. I can offer a different way to connect with the vibrations of the color senses, and the Spirit within.
And when I do feel lost in the “semantics” of making a living, I come back to the bigger reason I create: Art isn’t just about success. It helps my spirit connect and heal. It’s a direct pathway to life and it helps others feel and experience something too whether they realize it or not. I do the art, and the art does me—and that’s part of the circle of life.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work is built on the belief that color carries vibration—light, movement, and the Spirit of life itself. I approach painting as an unfolding process: I begin with a prepared, large-scale surface, then layer, stretch, and refine with intention—building texture, tension, and depth before applying carefully selected, high-quality color. Each stage matters; the surface becomes a living field of energy and form rather than a static image.
I am especially drawn to the luminous character of pastel work. Pastels interact with light, the only medium that actually has Facets—reflecting and refracting color from different angles and distances. This creates a shifting visual experience, where the painting’s “mood” evolves as you move through space, allowing color to communicate beyond fixed tones.
My technique is also shaped by material and ritual. I also incorporate layers of metallic elements such as gold, sterling silver, and copper leaf, as well as delicate accents like mica. These components enhance inner and outer luminosity supporting the sense of depth, self-reflection, and energized presence within the artwork.
As an artist, I aim to capture the spirit of life within the canvas—honoring each gesture and stroke as part of the whole. Ultimately, the work is an invocation: a blending of color, movement, and spirit that invites viewers to feel, interpret, and resonate. My medium is one of a kind, and it is bonded with a specially made UV-protective bonding agent to help preserve the artwork’s longevity. Having archival-quality materials and methods that support lasting integrity over time.
Guided by study and inspiration drawn from symbolism, psychology, and healing traditions, Michael’s work reflects a synthesis of Creativity and True Spirit. His paintings are intended to carry energy, invite connection, and bring the viewer into a more attentive way of seeing—where color becomes alive, responsive, and meaningful.
What does success mean to you?
My success is staying true to Myself my Spirit and the Art and sharing it with blessings of warmth and honesty—by giving up control of the outcome.
It means I keep creating because it keeps me breathing, hopeful, and whole. I know I’m successful when I connect with the Spirit of life and it flows through me freely. I don’t measure my success only by sales, approval, or whether everything “works out” the way I expect. Instead, I focus on what art does inside, through and beyond me:
It helps my spirit soar and heals me.
It gives others something real—comfort, a smile, a connection, and a warm embrace.
It helps me become more grounded and allows me to understand the human that I am here and now, changing ever more as I grow.
In the end, I succeed when my creativity connects, nourishes, and becomes part of the circle of life.
Pricing:
- I start with a Price, of $3.00 a Square Inch, It fluctuates depending on the amount precious materials used. The Gold, Sterling, and Copper metal leafs.
- I use a mixture of raw thin metal leafs; 24K Gold, with a mix of gold colored metal leafs depending on the sparkle I want to achieve. Also Sterling Silver leafs and Copper leafs, the colored leafs are a mixture of alloys.
- So the base price starts with 3$ Square inch + or – This way I keep the value of my works the same across the spectrum, regardless of the time and effort put into a piece.
- This way also keeps my clients knowing the value of their collections of my works do nothing but increase as my Square inch increases with time..
- It’s also is a great starting point for clients that want a special piece, a commission created for them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.schuesslerstudios.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michael_schuessler_fine_art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Michael.SchuesslerGman/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXOGhhoDcQvZJ5ojNYOaNBA
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@michaelschuessler0
