Mike Weary, 36, works in a dimly lit studio. It’s quiet, but there are whispers all around. Different sized canvases are stationed in different areas. Each one is a beautiful painting pouring out with storytelling.
Since 2021, Weary has been an artist-in-residence at the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, or what he refers to as home.
He first discovered his love for art at 6 years old, and has been self-taught ever since.
“I’ve taken classes throughout, but I never intentionally went to school to be a painter,” Weary said.
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Weary said he used to draw in the breakroom of his mother’s job at Home Depot. She would sometimes work shifts and there would be no one to watch him, Weary said. He filled up the time by drawing.
Around this time, he started to notice a skill he had for capturing people’s likenesses. He grew up in New Orleans and attended Brother Martin High School. Weary said that while living in the Gentilly area he felt the buzz of artistic energy from his community.
“I was really in my own little ecosystem,” Weary said. “I realized everyone around here knows how to do something. Either you did music or dance and even sports have a sort of artistic quality to it.”
Weary said he’s coined his style of work as Dorian Gothic, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”
Many of his paintings feature real people, but through a distorted lens. In the corner of his studio, there is a large painting resting next to a bright lamp. It’s an image of an older Black man with bluish skin. He has a June Bug sitting right above his upper lip.
“When people see it, sometimes they see the bug itself, which is a June Bug,” Weary said. “But a lot of Black people have someone named June Bug in their family.”
The painting is titled “I Found June Bug Dangling in an Oak.” The painting is meant to reference anti-lynching. He said the ambiguity of the painting allows for members of the community to connect in specific ways.
Weary said he enjoys using his art in ways that benefit and strengthen the community.
He is leading an arts initiative called “Arts for Everybody,” which will take place July 27. This is a country-wide event involving 19 different cities. There will be different art shows and activities throughout the day, all themed under the prompt: There’s No Place Like Home.
Weary said this is in conjunction with the office of the Mayor-President, Baton Rouge Advancement for Health Literacy and One Nation One Project. He said the arts council will try to do as many installments throughout the city as possible.
“Literally everybody in Baton Rouge is being asked to participate with their art. No matter what that art is, come be a part of it,” Weary said.
The whole point is to prove that the arts can lead to healthier people and healthier communities, Weary said. Therefore, the arts council will be partnering with different healthcare providers.
Renee Chatelain, former chief executive officer of the arts council, said Weary’s work caught her attention one day at an urban arts festival in 2021. She said their exchange that afternoon led to him becoming the first resident artist at the Cary Saurage Community Arts Center.
Chatelain also serves on the advisory board of the “Arts for Everybody” project. She said she approached Weary about being the project director and he agreed. Chatelain described Weary as a thoughtful community leader and advocate.
“It’s already what he does so naturally and so well,” she said. “He said he wanted to do the project, and from there, he’s just been magical.”
Weary said because he is self-taught, he can work from places that feel more organic and less formulaic.
“If I didn’t have any interest in art at all, then I decided to go to school for it,” Weary said, “I think I would’ve had more barriers on mentally on how to approach it.”
Weary never knows when inspiration will strike. Oftentimes, concepts pop into his head and then he translates them through his own view, he said.
Through videos on social media and live paintings, many people have noticed something intriguing about his methods. Weary often paints with the canvas up-side down. Why?
“I never knew why,” he said, “I’ve been painting faces for like 30 years, so I know proportionally where everything should be. It just feels right.”
It may seem like a way to flex his artistic abilities, he said, but he used to be self-conscious about painting upside down. He said he forced himself to paint rightside up whenever people were watching.
Maia Weary, Weary’s wife, is also his manager. He said that for years, she tried to convince him to do live paintings for weddings, especially when she saw a demand. After hesitations in the beginning, Weary eventually gave in and he said it helped him sharpen his skills.
Maia Weary said the two met as freshmen when they both attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Mike Weary said he didn’t complete the program; however this allowed him to devote more time to his passion.
“I just felt like he always had a story behind everything,” Maia Weary said. “It may look like something random to the average person, but there’s always something behind it.”
Maia Weary said Mike Weary’s creativity is already rubbing off on their children. She said her son, who’s 4 years old, often enjoys painting and working on projects with Mike Weary.
Mike Weary said every artist is self-taught in their own way. It’s about what information and craft elements you choose to express, he said.
One piece of advice that Mike Weary had for younger artists was to use their creativity to find a way to pay for their art materials.
“Once you have ways to pay for your art materials, put that art out. Show as many people as possible,” he said. “All you have to do is be yourself. Know thy self and be thy self.”
You can find more of Weary’s art on his official website or his Instagram page.
