Michelle Reeves
Painter based in Nashville, TN
ABOUT
Floral beauty is Michelle Reeves’ sanctuary, causing a visceral response to the beauty and the possibilities through flowers, nature and color – putting voice to canvas through paint and palette knife/brushes in an expressionistic fashion. Michelle’s work is abstract/expressionism with a dash of realism. Colors, forms and textures inspired by nature, are the key components and consideration for her paintings relaying messages that are good, bad and ugly. As a self-taught painter, she started later in life as a result of one question a gentleman asked during a job interview: “What are you passionate about?” Reeves went back to school to get an Interior Design degree. But through the course work something happened...she started to paint and found her calling and passion! Reeves has been published in, AcrylicWorks8 2021, SpotLight Magazine Nov/Dec 2021 House&Garden UK magazine and Styleblueprint.com/FACES in 2019. Reeves has been awarded 23 International awards which include Floral Artist of the Year 2020 and an Award of Excellence. Reeves was also awarded two overseas artist residencies in 2020.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Painting occurred late in my life. In 2017 a gentleman asked a question during a job interview: “What are you passionate about?” Pondering the answer to that question led me back to school to get an Interior Design degree, hoping this would fill a void. Along the way, through course work, I found my true self and at 52 years old, started painting. After a life-time of feeling hidden and unworthy, renewed child-like joy and professional purpose bubble out and is reflected on the canvas. The relief of knowing what I’m supposed to be doing and the emotive translations of life are expressed with careful color consideration and texture building. As a self taught painter, every canvas is a learning experience and as a former make-up artist I am very affected by color and have been my whole life. I am inspired by what I see in nature which springboards me in a painting direction. I don’t paint what I see, but rather the impression, color and movement of the subject or imagined content. Floral beauty has always been my sanctuary causing a visceral response to the beauty and possibilities of nature. It comes as no surprise that when I started to painting, flowers literally exploded out of me as they bring so much joy and wonderful memories.
Website: michellereevesart.com
Instagram: @michellereevesartnashville