Michael Backus was born in the USA in 1956.

By the age of 17 he had won a bank of America acheivement award in art and a scholarship to the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. Michael graduated from the Art Center in 1979 and intially started his career as an entertainment industry artist specializing in portraiture.

Michael worked for clients such as Warner Bros, Universal, 20th Century fox, Disney, CBS, NBC, ABC and many video packaging compaines. The search for saner work schedules and a broader client base took Michael into advertising in the mid '80's. Since then, he has worked for numerous major corporations, magazines, newspapers and billboard advertising.

Michael also sells original acrylic paintings as well as limited editions of his own work.