Michael Lawes was born in Birmingham and studied at the the College of Art & Design there.

Michael went on to work in the design studio of a large advertising agency with deadlines being the order of the day. He soon realised that this was not the job for him and started painting. He started by painting different aspects of his home city of Birmingham in oils. Michael then progressed on to other cities. His paintings are inspired by frequent trips abroad and are stunning pastel & gouache scenes mostly of Cities at night.