Mike Pitzer
My drawings are highly rendered personal items that come from my childhood growing up on the St. Clair River in Algonac, Michigan. I call my work “Happy Art” because the inspiration to create each piece is simple to appreciate, easy to understand, and the work makes me -- and others, happy.
Before I started drawing again, I spent 40 years of my life working in advertising, an industry I still love. Twenty of those years were spent as an international, award-winning Executive Creative Director working for some of the largest ad agencies in the country on some of the most creative accounts in the world. Much of that career was spent in vibrant, competitive, creative advertising markets like Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, and Phoenix. Then, in 2010, we moved to Fresno… where for the first time in my professional career I experienced, what it’s like to have my creative soul sucked dry. That was just my experience, and as they say, “your mileage may vary.”
It was awful — but here’s the amazing part; my wife, Lynn, knew how unhappy I was, and without any job offer or freelance prospects to provide income, she told me to quit. I think her exact words were, “Get the f**k out of there now! Please.” I did. That’s where this journey truly begins. Lynn encouraged me to start drawing again — something I hadn’t done in many years. My natural instinct was to pour what I was feeling emotionally into my art. My first attempts at painting captured the emotional struggle I was feeling of being trapped in darkness, yet needing to let my creativity out. But, these pieces were dark and somewhat foreboding. The issue for me was that this direction (while true) was not cathartic and was not making me happy.
I’d always found drawing with a pencil to be meditative, so one day, I sat down at my desk and started drawing my Stan Smith tennis shoes. They were so beat up, just like me. The leather was incredibly soft with some scars and scuffs, like me. And yet they still had a lot of life left in them, once again, like me. When Lynn saw what I was doing she wanted it framed and hung by our front door so that everyone coming to our home could see what her husband had drawn. That felt so great. It was like being a kid again and having a drawing put on the refrigerator for everyone to see.
Then it hit me, I was feeling really happy.
What to draw next? I started thinking about the things that made me happy as a child. As I drew, I put progressive drawings up on social platforms. Family and friends started to comment, offer encouragement, and share their own stories of similar things that had made them happy, too. My art was encouraging conversation and spreading happiness — ergo, “Happy Art” I hope my work brings back happy memories for you, too.
Gallery Shows & Exhibits
Pacific Art League Galleries - Palo Alto, CA
“104th Anniversary Exhibition”, November 14, 2025 - January 13, 2026
“Members Exhibit 2025”, May 9 - June 24, 2025
“103rd Anniversary Exhibition”, November 8, 2024 - January 14, 2025 - “Best of Show”
“102nd Anniversary Exhibition”, November 10, 2023 - January 16, 2024
“Members Exhibit 2023”, May 5 - May 23, 2023
“101st Anniversary Exhibition”, November 11, 2022 - January 17, 2023
White’s FineArt Gallery - Montrose, CA
“PSA Artists Choice Exhibit 2025”, December 9, 2025 - January 10, 2025
“PSA Artists Choice Exhibit 2024”, August 6th - August 31st, 2024
“Gust Artist”, November 2022
“PSA Artists Choice Exhibit 2022”, September 30 – October 29, 2022
The Betsy Lueke Creative Arts Center - Burbank, CA
“2025 Juried Exhibition”, October 4th - October 23rd, 2025
“97th Annual Juried Exhibition”, May 2nd -May27th, 2022 - “Award of Excellence”
The Creative Arts Group - Sierra Madre, CA
“98th Annual Juried Exhibition”, June 9th - July 14th, 2023
Ontario Museum of Art & History - Ontario, CA
“We The People: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow”, February -April, 2023
Paso Robles Art Association - Paso Robles, CA
“Studios on the Park”, October, 2022
Gallery 825 - Los Angeles, CA
“Root & Branch - Online Exhibit”, August 6th - August 26tht, 2022
“Gleaming Apollo - Online Exhibit”, June 2nd - June 11th, 2022
Cambria Center for the Arts - Cambria, CA
“Cambria Arts & Wine Festival”, February 2020
The Fig Tree Gallery - Fresno, CA
“Red - Group Gallery Exhibit”, December 6th - December 31st, 2019
“Featured Artist”, March 6th - March 31st, 2019
Artémedia Fine Art Gallery - Scottsdale, AZ
“Guest Artist”, 2012
The Barton Fine Art Gallery - Sacramento, CA
“Guest Artist”, 2008
K-Jewel Art Gallery - Fresno, CA
“One-Man Show”, December, 2022 - January, 2023
Contact Me
If you’re interested in a commissioned artwork, please contact me so we can discuss what type of pop-realism image you’re looking for.
mpitzer@icloud.com
(480) 544-2005
Return Policy
We want you to be completely satisfied with your art purchase. If you are not, we offer a return or exchange under the following terms:
1. Eligibility for Return of “Original” Artwork
Timeframe: You must initiate a return within 10 days of receiving the artwork.
Condition: The artwork must be returned in its original, undamaged condition, free of any signs of wear or display, and in its original packaging.
Proof of Purchase: Your payment receipt or proof of purchase is required to process your return.
2. Return Process
Contact Us First:
Before shipping any artwork, please contact us at mpitzer@icloud.com or (480) 544-2005 to inform us of your intent to return the item.Shipping:
You are responsible for the cost of return shipping and must include tracking and an insured shipping method, as we cannot issue credit until the artwork is received and inspected.Inspection:
All returned artworks will be thoroughly inspected upon receipt to ensure they meet the return conditions before a refund or exchange is processed.
3. Options for Return
Refund: .
A full refund will be issued to the original payment method within 2 days of the artwork's successful inspection.
4. Exclusions
Prints & Poster Print Items: Are not eligible for returns or exchanges through Pop-Realism.com, as we do not handle the actual printing and/or shipping of these items. Please follow the return procedures listed on your Print or Poater purchase/return guidelines.
Damaged in Shipping Original Artworks: If the purchased artwork has been damaged during shipping, you must contact us and provide pictures of the damaged shipping tube and artwork so that insurance claims can be filed. Once the artwork has been returned to Pop-Realism.com (per #2. Return Process), A refund will be issued.