After he moved to Asheville, NC to pursue a career as a graphite artist, Mike began to feel uncertain about his abilities as an artist and as an individual. He lost his passion for creating and stopped drawing.

However, in 2014, his desire to draw was rekindled while hiking across the summit of a bald mountain named Max Patch, where he encountered the iconic Appalachian Trail. He was immediately inspired to draw again, but it wasn't going to be easy. The trail itself was calling him to make the 2,200-mile pilgrimage from Georgia to Maine. Despite having no backpacking experience, two months later he left from Springer Mountain, Georgia, carrying two sketchbooks and an assortment of pencils, and headed north.

His journey on the trail not only strengthened his belief in himself but also gifted him with an undying love for nature that he's eager to share with others. While Mike still works in pencil, he realized it was time to branch out of the black-and-white world of graphite and truly convey the vivid imagery he experienced on the trail each day. And so, he taught himself the colorful medium of pastel.