Mike Esberg

senior artist

Mike was born and raised in Michiana, that’s the area between Michigan and Indiana, in the town of Elkhart on the St. Joseph River. As a child, his parents and relatives kept him busy and quiet by supplying him with plenty of paper and pencils for drawing whatever he could imagine. By the time he was in high school, he had begun his illustrative career drawing dog portraits and painting murals on vans.

(Elkhart Indiana is the R. V. capitol of the world!)

Mike graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio and then ventured off to Kansas City to work for Hallmark Cards. Now married, and raising two boys and a yellow lab, he continues to work from his imagination.

He is often inspired by nature and humor with a lot of disregard for the way things really look. For over 28 years Mike has been drawing, painting and creating a diverse range of images and characters for Hallmark, including an occasional dog portrait.