Fascinated with the Egyptian style of art, I began simply by painting an Egyptian interior wall mural. This which was featured in 1001 Decorating Ideas Magazine. Coincidentally, the exhibition of The Treasures of Tutankhamen exhibit was about to tour the USA, so I saw that as a good opportunity to do much more Egyptian art.
I contacted the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and asked if they would be interested in life-like reproductions for their gift shop- to tie in with the Tutankhamen exhibit. When they said yes, and were excited about the idea. I began work on a series of small works for the gift shop.
I then contacted the two major department stores in Chicago and asked if they would be interested in a life-size reproduction of the north wall of King Tut’s tomb to tie-in with the local exhibit at the Field Museum. They loved the idea.
I next contacted the director of Egyptology at The Field Museum in Chicago and borrowed a negative of the photo taken by photographer Harry Burton for Howard Carter who discovered the tomb in 1922. I made a print from the negative, and created a series of reproductions, large and small.
I then created a line of Egyptian themed designer stationery which I sold to the museum gift shops and department stores nationwide. I was contacted by a large commercial art wholesaler who then commissioned me to do a series of stylized Egyptian images which were sold as gold framed prints nationwide in upscale department stores, and titled The Treasures of Michael Shaw. Due to the publicity, I was also privately commissioned to do a large piece, which I loaded with symbolism documenting the political events of the current time. After the exhibition, my life size reproduction of the north wall was taken by the museum at the University of Pennsylvania.
