Mike is known in Britain and internationally as a painter, etcher, writer, teacher, and television personality.

He originally trained at Watford School of Art (Graphic Design),
and after teaching art in Hertfordshire schools (his original home) carried out a postgraduate course in printmaking at Brighton College of Art. Whilst still a student at Brighton, he was elected
(one of the youngest ever) Associate of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), became a fellow in 1971 and subsequently served as Honorary Secretary and later Vice-President.
Mike also taught Etching and Engraving part-time at Harrow, Kingston and Maidstone Colleges of Art and regularly ran in-service training courses at the Metropole, Folkestone, for the Kent Education Committee.

His love of painting was found early. From the age of 12 he knew what he wanted from his life, and has been lucky (and hard-working) enough to achieve this. A lifelong love of watercolour
was rewarded in 1993 with his election as Associate of the Royal Watercolour Society, and his elevation to full member
in 1997 Mike’s work, both in painting and printmaking, has
made him one of Britain’s most well known painters, and he is represented in many public and private collections worldwide, including those of HM The Queen, HM The Queen Mother, ex-King Constantine of the Hellenes, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, The Ashmolean Museum Oxford, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and the Daily Express (mural for the Boardroom).

More recently he has regularly been appearing with Hannah Gordon on the hit Channel 4 programme Watercolour Challenge. With 3 series under his belt, Mike has proved very popular indeed with the regular 2 million viewers who are attracted to this daily programme. He has also filmed an hour-long follow-up video, which was made to accompany the series.

Mike writes regularly for a variety of books and magazines, and in 2001 had two books published – one in early summer in China (who showed great interest in his work), and one, Mike Chaplin’s Expressive Watercolours, (published by HarperCollins) which is available now in bookshops throughout Britain.

Mike still teaches regularly on residential courses in Britain and abroad. Courses in Tuscany took place in the Spring and Autumn
of 2001, and there was also a course in Sicily in 2002.
Mike often exhibits work, both locally and internationally.