Month of Many Moons

November 10, 2024 in Collections

For the month of October, I created a painting each day that followed the phases of the moon. In the realm of social media, October has prompted artists to do various month long challenges in different mediums. Part of the challenges entail working with certain parameters in place. I knew I wanted to make small works on paper of the same size and offer them at a more accessible price point.

How I settled on the moon I am unsure of; like the best ideas it just came to me and felt like the right thread to follow. I have found it best to not question such moments of inspiration and I usually find myself gazing and admiring at the moon each month anyway. It is something I’ve looked at intently all my life but have painted just a few times.

My mother was the first person to make me aware of the moon in a big way. She would find a story or interaction each month that demonstrated people were acting crazy because of a certain power it had. Throughout my childhood during each full moon, my mom would take us out in our country squire station wagon (yes this one), open the sunroof, then proceed to drive around our neighborhood while insisting we all howl at the moon. I thought this was a completely normal activity until probably middle school where I realized that other families did not do this.

In this month of observation I certainly learned more than I knew previously about the shapes, light, and position of the moon but the biggest takeaway was unrelated to these things. I’ve never depicted a subject matter that was so wildly received by viewers of my paintings. It made me realize that many others too are looking at the sky with the same sense of wonderment throughout the month.

At some point during this project, someone reached out asking me to “claim” a moon to mark an upcoming special occasion. This inquiry was followed by multiple additional requests commemorating birthdays, anniversaries, and special locations. To see people take these small moon paintings and connect it to their own life experiences is really the greatest gift I could have asked for in this.

While most of the moon paintings have sold, there are still a handful available. I will also be offering moon painting commissions ongoing; if you have a special upcoming day that you would like to commemorate you can book a commission at the link below.

Available Moon Paintings

Book a Moon Painting Commission

Art at Anthropologie

October 18, 2023 in See Art

I am thrilled to share that several of my paintings are now available exclusively at Anthropologie as framed prints, part of a collection curated by Artfully Walls. The prints are created with museum quality paper and inks, and each artwork is paired with a unique frame. If you would like to collect one of the prints, the images and links below will bring you to the Anthropologie site.

1. The Goddess Minerva
2. Karen Dalton
3. love me best?
4. sage covered hills
5. cousin kenny’s umbrella
6. new orleans afternoon

Green Building Center: A Show of Landscape Paintings

June 30, 2023 in See Art

Green Building Center is based in my city of Lambertville, NJ, a firm specializing in the most environmentally responsible materials and methods of building and design. Their space at 67 Bridge Street shares an array of these products and the showroom also functions as a place to display the work of local artists. Owner and designer Lia Nielsen came for a studio visit last year and from there we planned a show of my paintings.

“I was drawn to Michelle’s work first due to the subject matter, and then her use of color. Many of her paintings, particularly those of homes and landmarks are local to me, and I love teasing out which roofline might be found where. Secondly, her palette, while often muted and gentle, is lovely and evocative of the small town charm she so effortlessly captures. I have been delighted to host Michelle’s work at our showroom. Good art and good design go hand in hand. Supporting the local arts community is very important to us, and having quality art that melds so beautifully with our space and design aesthetic is a treat. We hope to incorporate Michelle’s artwork into our designs for many years to come, and encourage our clients to do the same.”

— Lia Nielsen, Owner + Designer at Green Building Center

The paintings in the exhibition are a mix of canvasses and works on paper, most smaller in scale and painted en plein air. A handful of the paintings date to my time living in Nashville, where I studied the different vantage points offered by our Germantown neighborhood stoop. These paintings became a love letter of sorts to a specific corner where the view was both static and ever-changing. This is the special feeling that landscape paintings give us. I have always liked the idea that we can infer the season or time of day by noticing if the trees have leaves, or if it is the pink purple sky at dusk.

The paintings of Lambertville unfolded similarly. Within weeks of moving here, I became mesmerized by a grouping of houses and trees, this time situated on a fire escape rather than a stoop. Two years later I am still admiring and painting this scene on a regular basis. As I settled in and learned the area, I found my painting spots in other parts of the city. As one walks, one learns the best shapes and colors associated with a given location at a certain time of day. I have tended to the landmarks steeped in history like the shad fishery and the pink Kalmia Club building but I am equally as interested in the places you may walk past and never notice. The most recent works in this show depict Tinicum Park- a big red barn overlooking the Delaware painted on an early summer morning.

The one painting that deviates from this plein air theme is House on Willow Street- a delicate, large painting on paper that is best viewed in person. This painting was based on an old black and white photograph. At one time many of my family members did live on a real Willow Street. This photograph struck me as a house you walk past, thick with plants and a big porch, but you never get to see the inside. It is related to my familiar Willow Street in only an imaginary sense.

The works are available for purchase in person and online by clicking the artwork above. This collection of landscape paintings will remain on view through August 31st. More info about Green Building Center + their hours here

I would like to sincerely like to thank everyone who came to the opening night; a few photos from the evening are below. Film photographs by Don Ross Creative Co.