Go Paint Something!

Michael Cooper is well into his second decade of painting large-scale murals and, once you meet him, there’s no denying that he was born to create and murals are his vehicle for expression, beauty and an outlet for his staggering artistic abilities and gifts. Nashville, TN is where he hangs his hat, paint brushes, wall murals, drawings, paint buckets, guide dogs…well, you get the drift, and where he lives, plays and paints with his beloved wife and business partner, Mickie.

Since starting Murals & More LLC, based in Franklin, TN, Michael has been involved in projects ranging from small interior residential rooms to massive exterior highway projects. Also an accomplished faux painter, he has transformed many walls into fabulous brick, intricate marble and marvelous textures. He is internationally renown for his attention to detail and his ability to create realistic and whimsical applications of trompe l’oeil. People have simply been amazed at discovering what they thought was a series of wrought iron balconies or a clumsily placed ladder was actually a flat painted surface.

Cooper founded Murals & More LLC after painting murals as a hobby for nearly his entire life. His first association with a mural was actually in the first grade, (too many years ago!) where his winning drawings were incorporated into a large wall mosaic, which still exists today. Even though his specialty is large-scale murals, Michael has also provided his clients with painted furniture, floor cloths, backdrops, scenics and many specialty items.

His most recent commercial projects include painting the first work of public art in downtown Dickson, Tennessee, on a 40′ x 80′ exterior brick wall, a 15’ x 300’ trompe l’oeil wall for Nashville’s Bicentennial Mall and two large murals for the Franklin Family YMCA (Franklin, TN), completed right after painting faux finishes and trompe l’oeil stone on over a mile and a half of highway retaining walls and parapet walls in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Whew! And that’s not even mentioning his residential projects!

In an effort to share his nearly 20 years of experience as a professional muralist, Michael has also been teaching classes in the art and business of mural painting in his art studio based out of Franklin, TN, as well as seminars throughout the country. He is a member of the Artist’s Advisory Council and the Community Relations Board for the Frist Center of the Visual Arts, a teacher with the TPAC ArtSmart Program, an avid racquetball player, and in his spare time, Mike plays a decent 12 string guitar and a mean djembé.

And, most importantly, if it weren’t for his wife, Mickie, who keeps him organized and on task, he wouldn’t be here at all! Her humorous phrase that Mike has heard consistently over the years, “Mike, go paint something!” has inspired numerous projects and murals and now she can add a “blog” to the list!

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