Artist in Focus: Mickey Harmon

This article is the second installment of our series, Artist in Focus. Artist in Focus will be an on-going project made to feature artists around the City of Buffalo that incorporate Buffalo’s beautiful residential architecture in their work.

Mickey Harmon is a local artist that creates stunning works of art that regularly feature Buffalo’s residential architecture. Take a look at his Instagram account to see the colorful and intricate designs he puts together. He’s also the co-owner of Pineapple Co., a trendy local gift shop located on Allen Street that sells original artwork, apparel, and hosts events.

Learn more about Mickey and why Buffalo homes are a consistent subject in his artwork by reading the interview below.

Interview with Artist: Mickey Harmon

Q: Give us a brief introduction and tell us a little bit about yourself and your business.

A: “Well, I was born and raised in Buffalo. I have been drawing since I could pick up a pen or pencil and never stopped. It wasn't until college I really started paying attention to the City of Buffalo's urbanscape that I realized how wonderfully unique the area is. I began illustrating full time around 2010 and began illustrating homes the same year. I find spaces, the more intimate the better, to be such a cornerstone of my work. We spend so much time occupying our homes and streets that it really is significant that this is where life happens. Where we create our lives is so important for me and my illustrations.”

Q: How did you get started as an artist?

A: “It wasn't until I reached my 30s that I could say I became a full time artist. I collaborated with many along the way and I think my generation and beyond really benefits from collaboration. I created 3 graphic novels to date with local authors, I currently co-own a coop gallery gift shop called Pine Apple Company on Allen Street, and I am the Chair of the Allentown First Friday Gallery Walk with the Allentown Association going on 5 years now. It was through interacting with authors, poets, home owners, non profits, historians and film folks that I was able to build a community for myself to collaborate in and thrive with.”

Q: What is it specifically about Buffalo's residential architecture that draws your artistic interest?

A: “Buffalo's been dubbed The World's Best Designed City and City of Good Neighbors for good reasons. Here you find streets and avenues, parkways and terraces littered with nearly every style of home. Colonial, Queen Anne, Second Empire (my personal favorite) and beyond. I think if I lived in any other city, doing what I do, illustrating homes, I would be bored! It's not only the style of homes that is so intriguing, it's the unique way they all play together to give Buffalo's residential identity. The pocket parks like Arlington, Days and others play into a greater sense of astute and proud homes. I haven't had a car in 15 years and you can see why. I can bike easily through our well designed urban landscape and smile as I pass all it has to offer.”

Q: Do you have any favorite or influential artists?

A: “Some of my favorite artists include JC Leyendecker, the artists of Lester Bealls time and pretty much any turn of the century pen and ink artists. I think it's during that time that photography, lithography and typography really turned a corner with new technologies that an entire movement was born, lest we forget how the City of Buffalo played a role with 1901 and its Pan American Exposition!”

Q: How would you describe your artistic style?

A: “I'd say I am a detail oriented, pen and ink artist. I work in watercolor, guache, digital colorization and pen and ink mostly. If I had to designate my own style into a simple notion, I'd say a woodblock gone wild.”

Q: You seem to be very active in the local art scene. What is it about the art scene in Buffalo that leads you to play such a large and active role?

A: “Ya know, if you would have told a senior at Buffalo State College Mickey Harmon that he would have thrown two queer art festivals, dozens of block closures for First Friday, dance parties, wine tastings and live art events over the next 15 years, I would have laughed. But it’s true, like I said before, Buffalo is so capable of collaboration. There's this great disconnect that happened back in Cindy Sherman's time in the 1970s when Hallwalls began and I think the economic depravity and white flight to the suburbs didn't help that. Now, more than ever, people are investing in Buffalo. Like I always say after I letterpressed this at WNYBAC years ago: I Live in a City and You Should, Too, Cities are for People, Just Like YOU!”

Q: Finally, do you have a favorite neighborhood in Buffalo? If so, what is it about that neighborhood that you love so much?

A: “Hmmm, hard to pick! If I did have to pick I'd say my heart resides in Allentown, the West Village, its sister nearby a close second. Its in Allentown you find the highest concentration of artists, diversity of our city and life. Without Allentown and its countless lives, histories and stories she tells, I don't think I would have had as much inspiration as I do today, nor my art career which I am very proud to say is right here at home in Buffalo, New York.”

Please enjoy the gallery below featuring some of Mickey’s incredible work and don’t forget to give him a follow on Instagram. As always, please subscribe to stay up to date with all things Buffalo Homes.