The Arts & Business Council, Blackbird Media, and F&M Bank have teamed up to present the Artist of the Week on The Nashville Sign. This week’s featured artist is Michelle Reeves. She is also the 2022 Artober Featured Artist!
Creating art on canvas occurred late in Michelle’s life. In early 2017 a gentleman asked a question during a job interview: “What are you passionate about?” Pondering the answer to that question led Michelle back to school to get an Interior Design degree, hoping this would fill a void. Along the way she found her true self and started painting.
Floral beauty has always been Michelle’s sanctuary causing a visceral response to the
beauty and possibilities of nature. Communicating her point of view, good, bad or ugly is accomplished through flowers, nature and color – putting voice to canvas through paint and palette knife/brushes, in an impressionistic/abstract fashion. Being a life-long fan of Monet, and spending countless hours as a child combing through coffee table books, has greatly influenced her.
After a life-time of feeling hidden, renewed child-like joy and professional purpose
bubble out and is reflected on the canvas. The emotive translations of life are expressed with color-dragging, color-lacing and texture building techniques which is purely using palette knives. Recently, during her artist residency in France in September, 2021, Michelle discovered a new facet to her painting and her My Coloring Book series was born.
The “My Coloring Book” series has significant meaning to Michelle as the discovery
mimicked her childhood coloring books. The thick black lining, intricate backgrounds
and embellished details were all things Michelle colored on the page as a child. Now, the black/gold or white outline, details abstract brushstrokes of flowers, leaves, branches that loosely resemble flowers of different kinds.
Michelle has been published in 10 media/publications, won 27 international awards,
awarded 2 overseas artist residencies and licensed with 2 major retailers.
To learn more about Michelle’s work, visit her website.
Want to be featured on The Nashville Sign? Visual artists working in any medium, who are members* of the Arts & Business Council at the Basic Level ($30 annually) or above, are eligible to apply for Artist of the Week on The Nashville Sign.
*Those unable to become members due to financial barriers can be granted a waiver. Contact us at [email protected] to be confidentially considered for a waiver.