Starting in 1947, he was chief designer for Royal Crown Derby Porcelain of England, before working as an architectural draftsman for a number of years.
He had commissions from the forestry giant MacMillan Bloedel (now Weyerhaeuser Canada), the Province of British Columbia and the City of Surrey.
At the age of 17, Mikelson was awarded a Gold Medal in the Latvian seaport capital of Riga for his contribution to the arts there.
Mikelson began working at the 200-year-old Royal Crown Derby Porcelain of England, hired to create three-dimensional sculptures.
His work, consisting largely of bird sculptures, remains on display in the Royal Crown Derby Museum in England.
[citation needed] On a 1954 visit overseas, Canadian Senator Donald Cameron, appointed to the government after a significant career in public education with the University of Alberta, encountered Mikelson’s work at an art exhibition in England.
Cameron, among his many significant achievements, was head of the Banff School of Fine Arts in the 1930s, and maintained a leadership connection with that facility over the years.
In 1976 on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, he was invited to participate by the International Carvers Association with 1,500 entrants from all over the world.
Mikelson’s work won in 11 out of 15 categories, he was given the Gold and Silver Medals for his accomplishment, and he was invited back the next year as a judge for the International Carvers Exhibition.
[7] Mikelson favourite wood was satin walnut (eucalyptus), but he employed many other types, such as oak, teak, birch, and yellow cedar.