PAVLIS MICHALIS

 I was born in 1952 in Heraklion, Crete, into a poor family, at the age of 10. Not having the financial means to buy toys, I was forced to invent improvised games. With the neighborhood children, we made tiny objects (animals, marbles, etc.) from the soil that had been trampled by the horse-drawn cart that circulated at that time. As a child, when I wanted to draw on paper, my mother would scold me for drawing small pictures so that I wouldn’t use up too much paper. So I got used to drawing tiny ethnographic pictures.

I worked as an officer in the Merchant Navy until I was 26. This gave me the opportunity to come into contact with different cultures and visit numerous museums around the world, which influenced me and helped me develop my artistic sensibility.

From 1978 to 1990, after completing my career in the Navy, I engaged in pottery and iconography. Since the early 1990s, I have been immersed in miniature painting on various materials such as enamel, porcelain, silver, and gold. I am now specialized in miniature painting with themes such as Minoan civilization, Greek mythology, and contemporary history.

In May 2018, I took part in a group exhibition of miniatures on the theme of ” The Bee in Cretan-Mycenaean Culture” at the Basilica of St. Mark. In November 2018, I took part in a group exhibition of miniatures at the municipal art gallery of Botis Thalassinos.

In December 2018, I volunteered to create Minoan murals (8 in total) at the port of Heraklion, specifically on the pier. The project was completed in October 2023 and was handed over in the presence of Archbishop Eugenios, Regional Governor Mr. Arnaoutakis, Dr. Gareth Owens, linguist, and the entire leadership of the Municipality of Heraklion, Crete.

Alongside my artistic pursuits, I have been active in business from 1978 to 2018, running a jewelry store and workshop at 22 Daidalou Street in the center of Heraklion, which I moved and still run today at 42 1866 Street.