About MYB

Michelle always used to say she was so bad at anything artistic that she couldn't draw stick people. It wasn't until she was approaching forty that she happened to decide to take a 'process painting' class. The idea behind process painting is to not worry about any final product, but rather to just be in the moment as you create, allowing yourself to experience whatever you need to experience emotionally. It's very therapeutic, something that she finds to be similar to yoga or meditation in its mental health benefits. Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately, all things considered - she was bad at the 'not caring about the final product' part of the process. She was delighted by what she produced, actually, and that set her on a journey to explore what she could do artistically, rather than focusing on what she couldn't.

Initially self-taught, Michelle has had the opportunity to study with Anastacia Drake, B.T. Keller, and Patrick Saunders. About ten years ago, she began studying under Lacey Swift (formerly Lacey Lewis) and her School of Realist Art.

Michelle was drawn to Lacey's beautifully realistic portraits of local burlesque artists, with their vibrant hues and clear sense of personality, and was happy to discover that Lacey is also a fantastic teacher. Lacey's instruction has highly influenced Michelle's own work - and especially her approach to life as well as art. Learning how to accept that mistakes are part of the process, and that you just need to keep learning and practicing, has been a huge part of Michelle's growth as a human being. Yay, art!

When Michelle isn't working on art, she works as a GYROTONIC® trainer (and sometimes yoga teacher.) In other words, she teaches people how to move. She finds that developing her eye as an artist helps her to see how to find the subtleties in movement in her clients, and vice versa. In fact, the connection between the two disciplines is the reason she chose the name emybodiedart for her Instagram handle.

Any questions? Send them to me!