Mike Stiler has evolved over the years as a resident and artist of Monhegan Island, a place that is a treasure trove of weathered material that washes up on the shores and fills the coves. His love of working with recycled material is a sort of meditation for the artist that brings humor and light to the world, a direct reflection of his search for inner Zen and his background teaching Buddhism. He describes himself as “basically a cartoonist who works with wood, copper, paint, nails, steel, aluminum, leather, rubber, plastic, stone, graphite, watercolor, charcoal, ink, linoleum block, glitter, silicone, found objects, junk, photographs, ball point pen, words, ideas and empty space.”
Mike Stiler attended Syracuse University School of Fine Arts for sculpture and Rochester Institute of Technology for painting. His work is in collections at the School of American Craftsman in Rochester and the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York.