Born in 1947, Michael Riddet was raised on Walney Island off the northwest coast of England in sight of the renowned Lake District. In 1956 at the age of nine his family emigrated to the United States, settling in LaGrange, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Upon entering 7th grade his introduction to art began through the efforts of the principal of Oak Avenue School, Miss. Nettie McKinnon. Beginning in the late 1920's McKinnon had been purchasing original artworks for her school's collection. The money used to purchase these works was actually raised by the school's students each year by selling magazine subscriptions in the community through the Curtis Publishing Company. "I would venture to guess that most of the students over the years did not really appreciate the fruits of their labor, however I do remember the day in 1961 when a portrait by John Singer Sargent arrived and was hung in the art room." Miss McKinnon had an uncanny eye for both quality and value, not to mention the ability to drive a hard bargain with some of the artists. Today the "Nettie J. McKinnon Collection of American Art" is one of the finest in the midwest.
An influential mentor in Michael's teens was the celebrated marine artist Charles Vickery. Vickery had a studio in LaGrange and usually displayed his most recent work in the curtained studio window. After passing his window on numerous occasions to look at the latest painting, Michael finally gained enough confidence to knock on the studio door in order to show Vickery his work. Over time, as his work continued to improve and show promise he was invited to join Vickery and his art "cronies" on Saturday mornings in the studio for coffee and donuts to discuss painting, the business of art and how it was possible to make a living at the easel if you are willing to make sacrifices and learn, from time to time, how to starve gracefully.
Insisting on painting in a representational manner during the late 1960's when art was continually going in opposite directions was not a pathway to successfully pursuing a career in art. Instead, he opted to get his university degree from Chicago's Roosevelt University in his other area of interest, the biological sciences. Much to his father's relief, (a pragmatist), he had warned Michael time and time again that making a living as an artist was difficult.
One of Michael's favorite places to work on research was Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. He had taken an interest in painting wildlife, especially birds. Dr. Emmett Reid Blake, Curator of Birds, allowed Michael access to the museum's vast collections and was instrumental in furthering his career in 1975 by recommending to the Chicago Tribune Magazine that his paintings be used in a feature article on birds of the Midwest. One thing led to another and he landed the position of artist and interpretive naturalist with the Du Page County Forest Preserve District's Conservation Dept. He lectured on natural history topics, taught environmental education and helped develop an environmental education center at the Fullersburg Woods Nature Preserve in Oak Brook, Illinois. It was a wonderful job however five years later the increasing demand for studio paintings also became a full-time occupation. The turning point came with a letter from Terence Shortt, known as the dean of Canadian bird painters who had a long career as artist and curator with the Royal Ontario Museum. He convinced Michael that it was time to concentrate on painting full time. In the fall of 1979 Michael and his wife Karen threw caution to the wind, cashed everything in and relocated to the "Driftless" region of southwest Wisconsin where they built a home and studio on fifty acres.
A lot has happened since 1979. His work has been shown in over eighty museums, institutions and galleries here and abroad. He has had the honor of winning three Wisconsin Waterfowl Stamp competitions, the first in 1984 and again in 1992 and 2003. His work has been selected for sixteen years into the prestigious international "Birds in Art" exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. A highlight in 1996 was being elected into the Society of Animal Artists in New York and being awarded the Society's highest Award of Excellence bronze medal. In 2001 he was elected into Chicago's Palette & Chisel Academy of Art.
Although best known over the years for natural history paintings and scientific illustration, his work in the late 1990's began to shift toward mastering the technique of trompe l'oeil. It was not an intentional move, just a refreshing break. In the artist's words,"It is technically demanding, you can use your power of creativity, it is totally speculative and, 'it is fun'. An aspect of natural history still creeps into many of these paintings as does political or environmental commentary. These paintings have been featured in American Artist Magazine, Acrylic Highlights Magazine, American Art Collector, Acrylic Painting Magazine and the French art magazine, Pratique Des Arts. These works have been shown here and abroad in many museums, institutions and galleries.
His trompe l'oeil works completed an almost three year traveling museum tour titled "Trompe L' Oeil: The Art of Illusion". Thirteen museums across the U.S. featured this exhibition. His work was accepted into the Endangered Species Flora and Fauna in Peril exhibition at the Wildling Art Museum, Los Olivos, CA and traveled to the Department of the Interior Museum in Washington, D.C. Only fifty works from two hundred international submissions were accepted for the exhibition.
Michael also worked with the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum to produce paintings depicting the threatened and endangered species of the Sonora Region. In 2011 the collection resulted in an exhibition at the museum and a fully illustrated coffee table book titled "Vanishing Circles", with an introduction by Richard Leakey.
