Michael Dormer

Who is Michael Dormer?

Michael Dormer or Michael Henry Dashwood Dormer was an American fine artist, writer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and creator of the 1960s TV show Shrimpenstein.

A childhood protégé of artist Louis Geddes, Dormer took first prize in a National Fire Prevention poster contest at age 12. At 18 Dormer was working in art full-time.

In 1957 Dormer established a painting studio in La Jolla and moonlighted as a part-time night club comic and jazz poet at the Pour House, a cabaret in Bird Rock. He also published an art and poetry magazine, titled Scavenger.

In 1968 Dormer painted his first aluminum piece; a technique he developed, which has never been used by any other artist. These pieces are part of private collections across the globe. His vast body of work includes his mid-century Crankshaft series, an extensive collection of nudes, oils, watercolors, sculpture, intricate pencil drawings, charcoals, and murals.

Dormer, with his lifelong friend and collaborator, Lee Teacher, created a counter-culture sculpture Hot Curl, a 400-pound concrete statue, and installed it on the rocks near the surf shack at Windansea Beach in La Jolla in San Diego, California.