About Mike Kleimo Mike Kleimo came to his painting career by a circuitous path. He graduated with a BFA in advertising art and design from California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and worked in a cabinet shop and as a carpenter. Kleimo labored as a deckhand in Alaskan waters on crab and salmon net boats and fished for herring in northern California. In Alaska he was a welder on oil rigs in the Cook Inlet and a teamster on the Alyeska pipeline project. Kleimo was a labor foreman, operating engineer and drilling superintendant for high rise foundations and bridges in the Puget Sound area. In Seatle and San Francisco, Mike worked as a graphic designer, technical illustrator, art director, and owned an advertising agency. All of these influences can be seen in his watercolours. Mike lives and paints in both Seattle and San Miguel de Allende.