Painter and artist, Michael Snodgrass was born in St. Helena, California. With only one high school class in art, Michael started painting street scenes and cityscapes. At the urging of his parents, he left the art world and did not return to it until the mid-nineties while living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Snodgrass became immersed in the Santa Fe art scene and developed a deep love of Native American, Mexican and African art. After moving to the Monterey Bay Area in California, he started experimenting with his own "tribal" style, incorporating elements of abstract expressionism. Snodgrass explains his work as a take-off on the religious icons painted in Mexico and New Mexico called Retablos. Snodgrass refers to his paintings as “Irreverent Retablos or paintings that glorify the inglorious.” His fascination with scoundrels, chicken thieves, river rats, and art critics is evident throughout his work.