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THE FINE ART OF MICHAEL BRAIA
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Born in Central New York in the mid-1960s, Braia’s early childhood was influenced by a then more commonplace Italian-Americanized local culture. He explains, “Early on, we usually spent quite a bit of time with our extended family, visiting cousins and grandparents, enjoying homemade dinners after weekend Mass. Food was central to family interaction at the time. . . . Looking back, my younger years seemed a great time in my life. I had fun with the other children at school. By the time I reached middle school, however, I recall becoming less attentive, somewhat rebellious, and having difficulty paying attention in classes. . . . In the neighborhood, we had a rambunctious flair. I loved climbing trees and remember looking for crayfish or fossils within and around the nearby streams.”
His father was a “tin knocker,” a sheet metal man, and imparted creative influences to him. “My dad was a hard-working blue-collar type. He loved to work with his hands. I remember him looking curiously at his hand, showing me as he rotated it, describing how amazing a tool it was. Along with one’s mind, he added, the hand was integral to building the world we see today.”
Braia’s father, Michael G. Braia, pictured here shortly before his industrial accident, in 1985, was driven by creativity and craftsmanship in his own work, instilling similar traits to his son.
His father loved tools, calipers, and math, and his favorite metal was copper. “I remember him loving the way one could manipulate copper, loving the way it looked, and how it oxidized over time with a protective patina. He was fascinated with it, and he made me feel the same way.”
Early on, Braia developed an interest in the world of art. “As a child, I loved looking at images in encyclopedias, or Wyeth’s illustrations in Treasure Island, any Reader’s Digest, or a character’s curiously enveloped shoes or facial expressions in a Rockwell illustration. I recall drawing a horse, where my parents got a bit overexcited, encouraging me to do more. Kids in middle school sometimes praised me for my ability to draw. . . . My aunt, an educator at the time in California, knew that I had an affinity for the visual. She once sent me a poster of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. I loved the bold application, the simplicity of the pearl’s reflective light, and how the painting would be less interesting without it.”
His parents sent him to group art classes at the Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York. Soon after, he was taking private art classes at the local Metropolitan School of the Arts.
“There were a few years there, during my early to mid-teens, where I had more interest in typical things of the day—girls, hanging around with friends, and mostly wasting time. But I always knew I wanted to do something within the creative world of art in the future—I just didn’t know how, and didn’t feel I had enough direction.”
Braia graduated with a degree in design from Mohawk Valley Community College and later a degree in visual communications from Syracuse University. He later continued his education with additional college-level classes in sculpture and private training with portrait painter Daniel Greene in North Salem, New York.