Milk foam help

Hi, I have an old "traditional" machine with a 4-jet steam wand and normal steam pressure at 1 Bar. No matter what kind of cold milk I use, the foam starts to produce what I think you all call microfoam. I personally find that the milk cools down for my current taste and continue to froth longer until I hear the change in tone from the steam wand. At this point the milk is hit with lots of large bubbles and can rise to twice the initial volume, but the foam then feels too coarse with too much air and collapses quickly. I'm generally whipping a small volume enough for a cup or latte, and I can get better results by starting with a larger volume of milk. No matter what I do, I can never get any improvement and produce a firmer foam for latte art, even though what I do produce seems to be like the coffees I get abroad in mill cafes (not Costa!).

Where am I going wrong? Is this a limitation of my machine? Do good milk frothers always use air injection or special steam tips or higher steam pressure? Another problem I have is foam sticking to the inside of my stainless steel pitchers. I have checked the inside and they are not very polished, which I think would allow the foam to slide better? Are there better foam jugs out there? I have noticed that some commercial establishments pull the foam out instead of pouring it.