Maker Monday - November 2026
About the Artist
Name: Michael Quan
Medium: photography, pottery
Years creating: 40 years
SCAA Member since: 2020
Based in: Portsmouth, RI
Website: flickr.com/people/genghisquan/
Instagram: @_genghis._.quan_
Click an image to view portfolio slideshow
This month's Maker Monday features multidisciplinary artist Michael Quan. Although he has been taking photographs since his youth, it wasn’t until years later that he was able to focus more on art.
Mike started becoming involved at SCAA in 2020, taking pottery classes and beginning to exhibit his artwork. He became a member of our pottery studio a couple of years ago and is active in creating and sharing his work. Mike has also won awards at SCAA and the Naval Submarine League’s photo contest.
- SCAA
Where are you from, and what do you make?
I’m originally from southern California, but I moved around a lot as a kid and can call Oregon, Colorado, and Maryland as home also. I guess that got me ready for Navy life where I’ve lived in 11 other states, some multiple times, over a 39-year career. I’m a photographer and a potter. I shoot landscapes and urban scenes, both traditional and infra-red. I can now be found dabbling with astrophotography. For pottery, which started out as my COVID hobby, I enjoy wheel thrown pieces that I can Raku.
How long have you been seriously pursuing art?
I’ve been a photographer since my teenage years. I think only in the last 20 years have I had the time and means to up my game in the quality of my photographic work. I started pottery in 2020 at SCAA as a new hobby and I feel that I have the experience now to start expressing my art in clay.
What inspires you to create?
Life, nature, the seasons, how we change through time inspires me. Capturing the beauty of the world and trying to recreate what I see on film provides the biggest challenge.
Which artist outside of your chosen medium has had the most impact on your art? What do they do, and in what way do they influence you?
The depth, contrast, and colors of Thomas Cole’s works mostly inspire my photography. His dramatic and sweeping portrayal of American landscapes just captures my eye and I seek to do the same via photography. This is such a challenge to make your work have depth and meaning instead of coming off flat and compressed.
Is there a work of art that has changed your life or how you view the world in some way?
I don’t think that I have yet had a life-changing experience with a work of art. Art has always been a secondary passion to work and family. Now that I have retired from the Navy and my kids are all grown and moved out, I am ready to concentrate on my creativity.
As a member of SCAA, what do you like most about us?
I enjoy the collaboration and camaraderie of the artists at SCAA. There is always someone who you can ask a question about technique or form. The staff is also very helpful and pro-active in making the studio a welcoming place for artists, both established and just starting out.
Tell us a joke.
Scientists once combined the DNA of a Cheetah with the DNA of a Crab. Things went sideways real fast!