Mike Graves grew up in the rolling hills of southern Indiana where he developed an appreciation for the outdoors. He credits his father, who taught art, with instilling an interest in art at an early age. While largely self-taught, he has studied with other notable artists such as Robert Hoffman, Kevin Macpherson, Paul Leveille, Carl Dalio, Kenn Backhaus, John Budicin, George Strickland and Thomas Buechner.

Mike has recently moved to Golden, Colorado, from Rochester, NY. He is an active plein air artist, typically painting over 100 oils on location each year, in addition to his studio work. His style has been described as "American Impressionism".

While landscapes are among his most frequently painted subjects, each year he does a limited number of commissioned portraits of people and animals. After being featured in a segment on dog painting on Public Television, Mike has painted numerous dog, horse and cat portraits. His portraits are in private homes in Rochester, Denver, Ft. Wayne, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Boulder, Bloomington, Guadalajara, and other locations.

He is represented by three galleries in the US, and his paintings are in private collections in the US, England, France, Canada, and Mexico.

Mr. Graves previously resided in Rochester, NY where he was active in a number of art organizations. These include the Rochester Art Club (second oldest juried membership art club in the US), the Penfield Art Association (past President), Pittsford Art Group (past President), and regularly paints outside with "The All Weather Gang", and "The Plein-Air Painters of Western New York".