born in north dakota in 1951, c. michael norton studied fine art at humboldt state university and san jose state university in california. after working first as a sculptor, norton turned to painting as his predominant medium by the late 1980s. given the artist’s education and background as a sculptor, his paintings are notable for the wide variety of tools, not including the traditional paintbrush, utilized in their production (for instance, mud knives, rollers and squeegees). norton’s recent paintings often evolve from random markings collected by pieces of linen that are taped to the floor while other works are in progress, which are then intuitively built upon.