Lewistown Middle School Art Club

PAINTING DEMONSTRATION - The Lewistown Middle School Art Club held another in a series of Visiting Artist Series visitations last week when well-known Lewistown artist Michael Platzer (left) was on hand to demonstrate his unique painting style, which he utilizes since a diving accident 26 years ago left him without the use of his hands. Here, Platzer demonstrates his work before a mesmerized group of students.
(Photo by Joe Cannon)

Artist Michael Platzer of Lewistown demonstrates Tuesday his skills of painting with his teeth to Lewistown MiddleSchool’s Art Club.
Platzer has been painting since the age of 15. Three years prior to that he had a diving accident that forced him to be in a wheelchair and limited the use of his arms.
He (says he had had a device that would fit onto his hands to allow him to paint but he found he couldn’t draw straight lines. One day while drawing a covered bridge, he told the club of sixth- though eighth-graders, he couldn’t create a straight line, so he used his mouth to paint for first time.
Platzer sells his artwork, which includes portraits, and has a website with his art: www.myklangelo.com. A web cam is featured on the site and he says viewers can watch him paint from 4-8 p.m. on most days.
One of Platzer s paintings was chosen by the Christopher Reeve Foundation to be used on a greeting card. The paintings pictured here are some that the artist brought to show the LMS Students. "Art is in the heart, art is in the mind – not in the hand." Platzer told the class.
The Art Club instructor at LMS is Cassie Campbell.

Michael Platzer of Lewistown paints a rendition of the Old Mifflin County Courthouse.

After a diving accident in 1975 left Michael a quadriplegic, he sought expression through art. In a rather unorthodox way, Platzer holds a brush in his mouth to create a variety of oil that retain the subject’s texture, while embodying a spiritual element all his own.
"I believe if you want to do something bad enough, you will find away to do it," said Platzer.
Platzer, who resides in Lewistown, helped refine his skills as an artist after taking an art course at Penn State University. He uses both watercolor and oil to create a wide variety of paintings.
Platzer travels around Pennsylvania to exhibit his work. Because of travel restrictions, he also has a website - where you can view an assortment of his paintings or you can watch him paint.
Platzer said he is willing to paint anything, no matter what the subject. He has done various works for residents and businesses around the county, and continues to do so.
The gentle, inspiring oil of his paintings convey the tender affection he brings to the canvas. Determined to overcome obstacles, Michael Platzer has succeeded in his triumphant life as an artist