FAQ’S

Who is this?
The guy’s name is Mike Leavitt. He’s a visual artist from Seattle with his studio on Vashon Isle.

How does Mike make a living?
Only from his art. People buy his work through art galleries, directly from his studio, or hire him to make something. Mike is also hired to create prototypes and gets paid royalties for products. Commercial is about 1/2 his income, fine art sales is the other 1/2. Mike has no other day job or side work to finance his studio & utilities, shipping fees, travel expenses, exhibits, taxes, digital services, photography, printing, power tools, hardware and other materials he uses to make his work.

Where can I see Mike’s work in person?
Mike shows in various venues and group shows around the world. He works hard to produce work for everyone to see. He is available to arrange a studio visit if you're in the Seattle area. He loves visitors. His studio is set up with a lot of his art on full display to see.

How do I acquire Mike’s art?
You can hire Mike for custom work - here are those details. You can also buy Mike’s art from his shop, or directly from his studio by visiting his studio on Vashon Island.

How long does it take Mike to make a piece?
A single piece can take 2-3 months to finish with 50-hour work weeks. Mike’s smallest, simplest works can take a few weeks to finish. Sometimes work goes quickly. He learns tricks to expedite some things. He also challenges himself to innovate, which takes more time to improve upon himself. As soon as he’s learned something really well, Mike’s interests evolve to force a new challenge. He gets faster, then he gets slower. It's always painstaking.

Does Mike have another piece like the one I just saw somewhere?
Usually the answer is 'not right now'. Most of Mike’s work sells quickly. This is often asked thinking that Mike is a factory with a big supply of figures 'in the back'. You can hire him to re-create new, from-scratch editions of pieces he’s made before. Details for work like this is on his terms page.

What materials does Mike use?
As a sculptor and designer, Mike generally needs competence with all media. Hand-carving wood, cedar, pine and fir are his personal favorites. Most of Mike’s smaller figures are sculpted in polymer clay. He carves his larger pieces in wood. His favorite is Western Red Cedar because it’s native to his Pacific Northwest home, it’s very lightweight, easy to carve and has good natural preservative qualities. Lately Mike is doing more 3D-modeling to involve 3D-printing with different plastics and polymers.

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