About Me

I am a painter, a musician, and a lover of arts, community, and culture. But, I think all of that stems from my passion for beauty. Beauty, whether through nature, music, or art, is a powerful and mysterious force which lives in direct connection to the divine. When we see, hear, or experience deep beauty, something stirs up within us, something that really cannot be explained. Psalm 19:1 says that, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Beauty is not a necessity but a gift that testifies of God's goodness. And that is why I believe it is something that needs to be cultivated in all areas of life.

 

I really fell in love with painting when it became a means for me to connect with God. While learning to paint from life, I began to observe so intently the world before me. And in doing so, I’ve fallen so deeply in love with creation. How perfect is the nature of the world He placed before us and how wonderful is it that our whole world reveals to us the perfect Creator if we just take a closer look. I hope my paintings will draw attention to the beautiful nature of God.

 

For three years I studied Classical Painting at the Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. My world there revolved around beauty, which Italy has so reverently deemed sacred for centuries. I used to feel a sense of shame for being interested in realism. I was hypnotized by the lie that realist painters aren’t creative or that we’re selfish; we envy the beauty of nature so much that we attempt to claim her graceful identity as our own. Then the credit for her magnificence is ours. The more I observed from life and began to notice nature’s patterns, behaviors, and nuances, the more I came to realize what a skewed mindset this is. I’ve fallen in love with nature exactly the way she is. Realist artists simply love to observe so intently, depict it as they see it, and so draw attention to their favorite things about the world that already exists around us.

 

Michaela