It's long overdue, but David Mikelsons is the latest Panas alum to be featured by the Panther Press. One only has to see some of his water color work to understand what caught our attention.

David grew up half the time with his mom and the other half with his Dad in both Continental Village and Mohegan Lake. While he played tennis with the Panas team during his sophomore year, his enjoyment of sports was found mostly in outside activities like skiing and skateboarding. He and Tom Ruehli (’90) spent much of their time on the half pipe that they built in his backyard. Back then he used to hang out with friends Joe Carbone, Mike Carney, John Gee, Jason Rasmus, Evan Otruba, Jessica Howard, Melanie Matsuyama, Angela McBride, and Josh Bloom.

Not unlike others who are artistically predisposed, David led a fairly solitary life while in his high school years at Panas. Not the kind of guy you would likely see competing for Homecoming King, David immersed himself in his artwork. While academically an honors student, he was much more interested in things like small engine repair and his beloved art classes.

"Art was the best thing I remember about Panas. I skipped classes to paint. There was nowhere in my life that I felt so safe and free," David says. "I could do whatever I wanted with a canvass. Every brush stroke was intoxicating. I took photography, watercolors, drawing, and the best of all was painting."

David particularly remembers his art teachers Joan Hayes and Harrier Saddow. Noting the influence they had on his work, David explains, "A good art teacher teaches more than the basic techniques needed for a medium. Technique means little when trying to create art. It's all in what you've got to say, how you say it, how eloquent your brushstrokes."

The idea of going off to college after high school seemed both unimportant and all together too stressful for David. He decided instead to get an apartment in Poughkeepsie and attend Dutchess Community College, where he began to grow as an artist. Learning figure drawing, photography, watercolors and sculpture, things started to come together for David. He soon realized that his artwork could be well served through education.

His passion for skiing eventually brought him to the ski capital of the country, Colorado. Since being there he has made a hobby of taking to the mountains; he has climbed four that are over 14,000 feet. Since moving to Colorado, David has also added mountain biking and snow boarding to his sports repertoire.

Over the last eight years David has been working at Kinko’s, most recently as the technology manager. He has since moved to the Pacific Northwest, now living on the Olympic Peninsula in Chimacum, WA. There he is working on his art.

"I [have] started asking myself questions like, ‘who am I’ and ‘where am I going?’ The answers told me everything. They were a little scary. I am an artist and how does that fit into the American dream? Where will I get my SUV, big house, and stock portfolio? I won’t. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is knowing who you are and striving to be more like him or her."

David is still close with Josh Bloom who is a music promoter in New York City. He also recently gotten back in touch with Melanie Matsuyama who herself is an artist. David hasn’t been back to his old stomping grounds since 1995. Hopefully, we'll see him at the Walter Panas 30th Anniversary Celebration August 30, 2003.

You can find much of David’s work on his website: www.davidmikelsons.com. David is a fine example of the creative tradition that can be found at Walter Panas High School. We wish him future success in his artistic pursuits.