Brushes of Emotion: A Personal Conversation with Fine Artist Michele Usibelli

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
I'm Michelle Usabelli. I'm a fineartist working in Washington State and Montana.
Hello, I'm Chris Stafford and thisis Art, the podcast where we get
to know women from around the worldof visual arts. This is season two,

(00:22):
episode nineteen. My guest this weekis the fine artist Michelle Uzabelli,
whose work ranges from landscapes and animalsto still life and figurative art. Washington
State native Michelle was born in Seattlein nineteen sixty two, then spent time

(00:44):
in Utah and Alaska before returning toEdmunds, Washington State, where she divides
her time with another studio in Montana. Michelle is the eldest of three children.
She has two brothers to John Hamson, a former name baby serviceman and
realtor, and mother Carol, whowas a homemaker, pianist, and seamstress.

(01:06):
Michelle's childhood was spent mostly outdoors andplaying sport. She was, she
says, something of a tomboy,and she also followed in her mother's footsteps
by playing the piano and sewing.Michelle's interest in fine drawing led her to
study architecture at the University of Washingtonand pursue corporate architecture. She also worked

(01:29):
as director of marketing for the NationalPark Service, which involved extensive traveling.
It was while she was on abusiness trip to Donali, Alaska, that
she met her husband, and afterraising her three children, Nathan, Jacqueline,
and Angelina, that Michele returned toher love of art. Aside from
painting most of the week, shealso teaches workshops. Michelle has won numerous

(01:55):
awards, including the Silver Medal Awardat the prestigious Salmon Gundy Club in New
York City and the UCI Institute andMuseum of California Art Award. Her work
is in the permanent collection at theUniversity of Alaska, Fairbanks Museum of the
North, the Brinton Museum, Wyoming, and her painting First Light Pioneer Mill

(02:17):
Smokestack, was acquired by the Stateof Hawaii for their permanent collection. Michelle
lives in Edmund's, Washington State withher husband, Mitch. Michelle, Welcome
to the podcast. Thank you.It's awesome to be here. I appreciate
you having me. Well, youdo travel some pretty parts of the world

(02:38):
to do your painting, he said, you said, Montana and now Washington
State is where you live. InEdmond, Washington State, and you are
originally from Seattle, so you're verymuch a West coast Washington state girl.
Then it's is that the muse?Is it the water that that draws you?

(02:59):
It has I definitely am West coastcentric, although we do spend more
and more time in Montana these days. Yes, it's just the water family.
I've come from a large Italian Frenchfamily, so all of the cousins,
aunts, uncles, grandparents, we'reall. We haven't ventured too far

(03:20):
from the original homestead, so Seattleis home to me. Do you draw
your inspiration and then from the landscape, the seascapes in your environment, Michelle,
You know, as we talk,you'll see I paint a lot of
different subjects. I draw my inspiration, yes, from the landscape and my

(03:43):
environment. But primarily inspiration's drawn fromjust the play of light and shadow in
a particular scene, no matter wherethat scene is. So that's probably the
main thing that inspires me, isthe play of light in a vignette,
in a little scene. Now,are you painting every day? Is this
something that you feel compelled to do? Is there an h that you have

(04:05):
to scratch? Absolutely? I thinkall of us creative types. No matter
what we do, it's like breathing. I think for us, we have
to do it. We have tocreate. It brings us. For me,
it brings me peace, It bringsme a sense of accomplishment. Not

(04:29):
I would love to paint every day, but because of what the business side
that comes along with art, Iend up painting probably four days a week
and then do other business art businessrelated things the other three days a week.
Do you do everything yourself, then, Michelle, I do. It

(04:51):
has been a struggle at different times. At different times, I've thought about
bringing other people in or assistant into help. I just it's for me.
I guess I would call myself alittle bit of a micromanager. I
just want everything I do to havemy voice and to be who I am.

(05:13):
So I just haven't been able torelinquish any part of this art process
to somebody else. I want itcompletely and thoroughly coming from me myself.
So if someone was to view yourartwork for the first time, what would
you expect that it would tell themabout your personality? Well, it's I

(05:38):
guess I would. They would seethat it was vibrant. I'm hoping they
don't see it's chaotic, but sometimesthere is a lot of activity and motion
in my art. I kind oflook at art as two different ways to
view pieces of two dimensional art,and one is is it passive art where

(06:01):
it's a beautiful scene and the vieweris enjoying the scene, or is it
an active piece of art where there'smotion and movement. And I would say
majority of my art is active art, where there's actually I'm trying to capture
an energy or a movement or somesense of flow through the piece of art

(06:23):
that I'm creating. Are you ahigh energy person? Yes, yes,
much too. You know my husbandis he We're the tortoise and the hair.
We always laugh. We always sayif we were to plot our course
throughout the day, mine would betwenty five miles of needless walking and moving

(06:46):
and his would be two miles ofpurposeful go point A to point B.
And yes, so I am.I'm always thinking, always moving. Ironically,
art is the one time where I'mcompletely when I'm creating a piece,
I'm completely focused on what I'm doing. It's the only time I'm not thinking

(07:09):
of a thousand different things and completelyfocused on the task at hand. So
it brings you to a quiet place, a still place, place where you
can isolate yourself. So what doesthat studio space look like? The studio
space both both in Montana and Washington. Up above in in Washington, I'm

(07:35):
I'm on my home property, butI'm above the garage. I'm up looking
out but separated from the house.I could all when the kids were little,
I could always look in the windowsand see what they were doing inside
the main house. It's just ait's like a treehouse. Both both places
are like a treehouse. So itis kind of my my my place to

(07:59):
escape. Is it a quiet placeor do you listen to music or something
while you're painting? He was,I was thinking of I knew you had
asked me this quite I was thinkingabout this last night. And you know,
I when I originally started painting,it was a very loud place as
far as the music goes. Loudmusic, not not mellow music, definitely

(08:24):
almost like rock and roll type music. And that's kind of how I paint,
just very I just attacked the painting. And now it's funny. I
was thinking the other day that Iwould say a lot of times I go
into the studio and I don't eventurn music on. I'm just so absorbed
in my thought process of what I'mcreating. So, you know, it

(08:46):
just depends on my mood, Iguess. But it could be either music
or no music. It just itdepends on I guess what I'm what I'm
painting, or how I feel thatday. We know you come from Italian
and French ancestry, so that couldbe the high energy there on the Italian

(09:07):
side. What do you think youinherited? Oh? I know, my
my husband will always say, howdid I end up with a French Italian?
Because it's I I'm a motive Ican be emotional, I could be
busy. I think I think primarilywhat I inherited was a really strong work

(09:28):
ethic from my family, my father, grandfather or grandmothers. You know,
just the just that ability to seta goal and kind of single mindedly go
go for that goal. Not I've, I've my whole family nobody gives up
easily, where I guess we couldbe called stubborn, and I think that's

(09:54):
served that served me well in theart world as far as just kind of
how it set up goal and makethat my priority to get there. Now,
you were born in nineteen sixty two, one of three children, So
I'm wondering if you were a stubbornchild, were you a high energy stubborn
child, or how would you describeyourself way back then? Michelle? We

(10:18):
yes, I'm I'm the oldest.I have two younger brothers. I remember
my mom A couple of times.My mom ran away from us, So
I guess that tells you kind ofwhat we were like as kids. We
were very stubborn, very We werevery competitive with each other. We would

(10:41):
constantly be competing on anything from sportsto who could eat a can of spaghettios
without chewing it. I mean,we had all kinds of these strange little
competitive quirks. And it wasn't myparents didn't encourage that. It's just just

(11:03):
how we were. And so Ithink, yeah, we I always have
had this on a kind of aninner drive to to do the best that
I can do. And my myfather was from a military family, and
you know that pursuit of excellence andnever you know that, I mean the

(11:26):
pressure with that also. You knowit can be good, but it also
can have its negative impacts too.So never allowed yourself to fail, can
kind of get a little bit exhaustingat times as well. Were you an
outdoor child very much much much tomy mother. My mother would say to

(11:48):
me, you know, let's don'tlet's come into the kitchen and let's uh,
I'll teach you to make spaghetti,or I'll teach you, you know,
let's do some cooking. And Iwould look at and say, heck,
no, I'm going out with dad. I'm going to mow the lawn
and We're going to detail our cars. And I'm always outside. I remember,

(12:09):
even in kindergarten growing up in Seattle, come home after a half day
of class and in the pouring rain, I would just put on my boots
and an umbrella and just go goout and walk for hours in the neighborhood.
So yes, definitely a very busy, always outdoor child growing up,
and still I am. I amto this day. I try try to

(12:31):
be out as much as possible.I just I'd love to be outside.
Well with having two younger brothers.Do you think you're a bit of a
tomboy yourself? I know, forone hundred percent I was a lot of
a tomboy. We laughed because thisthere's a funny little story. My whole

(12:52):
my family has heard this over andover. But I was probably nine or
ten, and it was with mybrothers and my dad and we were out
doing some errand and a man cameup to my dad and said, sir,
you have three fine looking sons.And my dad said, well,

(13:13):
thank you very much. And Ithought, what, wait a minute,
I'm a girl, what do youmean? So I think, you know,
I'd never my my folks would neverlet me have long hair because it
was too hard to comb. SoI always had a very short pixie cut.
And I just I just but Igrew up always competing, and but

(13:37):
I had no there was no doubtin my mind that anything I wanted to
do I could achieve. But yes, very very I was very much a
tomboy, growing up, very injust much into a lot of did every
sport you could do. Uh wouldjog with my dad every as a young

(13:58):
child. I remember going out andworking out with my father and hiking and
jogging and being active was a veryvery big part of our childhood. Which
were your favorite sports? You know, I look back, you know,
having kids now, it seems likeeverybody, all these young people are have

(14:22):
to pick a sport and stick withit, and they do that same sport
and they have to achieve these highlevels, and you know, we just
did whatever the season was, whatthat sport was that season. You know,
I all through school in high school, I played tennis, I ran
track from early age, across countryswimming, I was on the swim team.

(14:48):
I did synchronize swimming, softball.I think it wasn't until probably my
junior year of high school that Igot real involved in crewe and being shorter,
you know, every everyone always wantedme to be at Coxson and I

(15:09):
wanted to row, so they actuallyhad to rig the boat. I was
a starboard side rower, so weactually rigged our boats with a starboard stroke.
So I was in the front somy short reach didn't didn't mess up
the rest of the team. ButI would say overall, crew rowing crew

(15:30):
was wonderful for me all during thelast two years of high school. And
then you know, right now,you know, at my age now,
I still ski, cross country,ski, snowshoe, pike, bike ride,
So you know, just I loveto do a variation of things.
It's kind of better for us asif we can do that as well.

(15:54):
Did you ride whole since you know, I never did as a child,
but when my daughter, my middledaughter, really wanted to, and so
I actually started writing with her anddid it for quite a while when you
would take these trips into the bitterRoot Mountains in southern Montana and do some

(16:18):
pack trips. But then, youknow, because I didn't grow up writing,
I felt that I realized I wasa little more nervous than I should
would normally be, and I thought, well, this is when I'm going
to fall and hurt myself. Soyou know, I did it for a
while, loved it, but it'snot something that I would that I would

(16:41):
say I was ever achieved greatness atthat was Jacqueline you were riding with.
Yes, What were the influences thenin school, Michelle, You know,
when you're in kindergarten then middle school, what kind of things were you paying
attention to apart from school, becausethen it seems the art came later.

(17:02):
Well, the art, you know, the art came later. You know.
I think in the family that Igrew up in art was always even
if I they saw my parents sawpotential in their minds, art was not
a viable way to make a livingso I was never encouraged to pursue my

(17:25):
art. I spent a lot oftime as a kid drawing and doodling,
and all through high school, actuallyI went through a crazy phase. I
shuddered to think about it. ButI thought I would be a fashion designer
and I would spend I would beI would doodle, I would design clothes
in the margins of my notebooks,and then I would say the last few

(17:49):
years of high school into college,I made. I made all of my
clothes. And but it was justkind of a creative side of me that
I knew, or I was toldwas a hobby, but not that wasn't
anything I was going to be ableto pursue professionally, which which sad,

(18:10):
which I've tried to, you know, with my kids, I've really told
them, pursue whatever, whatever yourpassion is, make that your job,
because it won't be a job,it'll it'll be a joy to do.
So. In terms of early artinfluences, Michelle, did you get exposed
to galleries and museums? Not earlyon? I think I mean it just

(18:34):
you know, I it's starting.When I was a sophomore in high school,
I took a technical drawing class,and I loved the technical drawing.
I just I loved that class andthe teacher, the high school teacher.
I actually ended up taking that classas an elective for three years, and

(18:57):
he just put me on my owncourse of learning, and so I would
never was focused on the fine art. I was focused on the drafting,
and that then segued into getting adegree and becoming an you know, in

(19:17):
architecture. And then it wasn't untilmy second child was born that I had
the time if life changes, Ididn't want to travel like I was traveling
with my job, and at thattime I stepped back and went art,

(19:38):
something I've I've loved forever. I'veI've been void of has been boyd in
my life since I have been doingarchitecture, and maybe this is time to
us to start dabbling into that thatcreative side again. I know that you
enjoyed travel, but you were travelingwhen you were for your work. Then

(19:59):
what did that involve mission? SoI I always had a travel We didn't
travel growing up as as a family, but I loved the idea of travel
and the idea being away. AndI was fortunate to have been offered a

(20:21):
position with a large company who didran all the concessions in the national park.
So much to my parents' dismay,I left architecture the death sitting at
a drafting board. I left thatjob to become a director of marketing for

(20:45):
this this national company, and Ihad my clients were all around the world.
So my job was to bring travelwriters to our national parks around the
country, expose them to the nationalparks, take them on special guided trips

(21:06):
into the parks. And then Ialso was went around the world sharing our
national parks with other travel writers andtravel communities across the globe. So really
did that just you know, madesuch a difference in my knowledge of the
world and just really exposed me tothe beauties of travel. So were you

(21:32):
free and single at this time thanMichelle to travel as much as you wanted?
Yes? And yeah, and Iwas and I was able to.
I mean I lived out of asuitcase. I was probably on the road
at least two to three weeks outof every month. I don't think I
ever really even hung up my clothesat the end of the day and was

(21:56):
ready to pack and go again.And then I met my husband and future
husband and had our first child,and and after that, I just there
was it was too important for meto to be available and be home and
be a part of raising the kidsand not be gone so much. So

(22:18):
that was kind of the catalyst tokind of is revamping of my life and
kind of taking a pause and lookingat what is what's really important to me,
And it was it was really importantto me that my kids saw mom
have a passion, no matter whatthat passion was. And so that's when

(22:41):
that's when I took the time tokind of revisit and reignite that flame when
it when it came to painting andand and art. Where did you meet
your husband? Mick? So wewhen I was working in the National Parks,
I had an apartment up in Denali, which is interior of Alaska Denali

(23:03):
National Park, not far from wheremy husband grew up. And one of
my great friends at work was acollege roommate of my husband's future husband,
and he when we were all upin Fairbanks for a meeting, he unbeknownst

(23:26):
to me, orchestrated a meeting sothe two of us could meet. So's
we met that kind of on ablind date. And where did you get
married. We got married, sowe were, you know, a little
bit older. We got we actuallyhis family, he has a brother still
up in Alaska. He was livingin Alaska, but many of his family,

(23:51):
his his mom, his siblings hadmoved to Washington State, so and
all my family was in Washington State. We actually got married at snow Caalmy
Falls Lodge, which is in themountains right outside of Seattle. And it
was just kind of a whirlwind romance. And then we got married and then

(24:11):
moved back back up to Alaska forabout a year, and then we decided
to move back to Washington State tobe closer to all of our families.
So you were raising three children theneventually, m h, when did the
art creep in? When did youfirst start to have time or make the
time to paint? Well, Ithink, you know, speaking to so

(24:36):
many women, you know a lotof a lot of women have been painting
and then when they have kids,they, because of the time and the
commitment evolved, take a break andthen maybe pick up painting later. A
lot of a lot of people startpainting after their kids are a little bit
older, maybe back in school theyhave some more time. But you know,

(25:00):
my Dad always said that I tookthe course of most resistance, and
so of course I had Nathan,the oldest, and then fourteen months later
I had Jackie, and I thinkit was between after Jackie was born,
I thought, Okay, it's goingto be a while so I can get

(25:22):
back to any type of corporate job. And my husband for Christmas the year
that my second my daughter was born, had went had gone went down to
our local art store and had boughtme a series of art lessons because he
knew that that was something I'd alwayshad in the back of my mind.
But I just needed a little bushand so for a holiday, I got

(25:47):
an art class. So every Friday, with two fourteen month old or probably
twenty month old and a six monthold, I would hire a babysitter and
every every Friday for about a yearor two, I would go take a
class. So I kind of gotinto painting right in the middle of all

(26:11):
the craziness of my life. Butyou know, it was sometimes like chewing
ground glass to kind of get outof the house and make that time.
I felt guilty sometimes, but Iknow the overriding thought was this is this
is for me. It's a passion. It's it's something I have to do.

(26:33):
It's great for my kids to seeme having my own thing, and
so I just kind of I justburned the candle at both ends for so
many years to be able to atleast kind of make headway with my art
and fulfilling that passion I have tocreate. While priority was, you know,

(26:56):
being home with the kids, itwas I kind of was wearing multiple
during those years. And what sortof art would we have seen then,
because now it's so vary with yourlandscape to animals, even still life.
You know, you have such variety. I'm wondering where you began. So
I have, you know, I'vealways had the need to create just whatever

(27:21):
what inspires me. I never wantedto be put into a box as you're
a landscape painter or you're a portraitpainter. I just the way my mind
works or what inspires me. Itcould be so many different genres. So
I think, you know, lookingat the early days, I still you

(27:42):
would have seen multiple genres. Youknow, I might paint a landscape one
day as still life another. Butmy struggle was coming from architecture. I've
had a lot of drawing classes,a lot of technical drawing. I was
spent years and years through high schooland college doing drawing, so I had

(28:06):
the drawing skills. I'd never painted, so it was learning about paint application,
learning about color mixing, color theory, all of those color sides of
the creative process. My struggle wasthough, coming from architecture, everything I

(28:29):
had done was so tightly rendered andeverything was perfect, and you know,
the writing. I had a oneyear of class just teaching you how to
do the architectural thoughts and how towrite your name in the architectural style.
I knew in my mind I wantedto paint more abstracted shapes. I didn't

(28:53):
want to paint tight realism. SoI think you would have seen early on
my work was much more tightly renderedthan it is. And I'm still not
even there in my goal of whereI would like to be. It's just,
you know, it continues to besuch a learning process. But I

(29:14):
keep my first painting I ever did. I have it in my studio,
and when I teach at the endof the workshop, when everybody is feeling
grumbly and frustrated, I take Ipull out this first painting I ever did,
and I said, look at this, this is where I started,
and everyone just like, no,that's that wasn't yours, No way,

(29:36):
I'll go yes, it's horror.It was. It's horrible. It was
horrible, but it was part ofmy journey. And so yeah, so
long answer to your question, butyou would have seen somebody really struggling to
create, like to what's in mymind to put that on canvas, and
that was that was a huge strugglefor a couple for quite a while.
Actually, for years, I've seena painting of yours with the house and

(30:03):
the and the sun reflecting on thehouse, and there's an orange tree in
the foreground, and so much ofthis is I think, is you very
much you? You know, withthe correctness of the of that the house
is rendered when you look at that. Now, I'm not sure when you
painted that, but is that whereyou were aiming for or are you still

(30:27):
in transition with that type of painting? You know? I feel that,
And I know artists say this,it's I I I the more you know,
the more you learn on our artjourney, I feel that you that's
the more you realize you don't know. So I feel now twenty years into

(30:51):
my painting journey that I have somuch more to learn. I'm not I'm
so far from I don't think weever. I don't think there's ever an
end stage where we say I've gotit, I figured it all out.
This is exactly where I want tobe. I think for us to continue
to create and explore and to grow, well, there's the target keeps moving

(31:15):
as we learn more and more.So when I first started painting, I
thought, oh, yeah, Iget this, I've got it figured out.
Boy, I realized I knew nothingthen. I really know nothing now.
It's just part of our journey.But I feel what i've over the
last few years. I actually doa PowerPoint presentation where I show my reference

(31:42):
photo for my project, my painting, and my final painting, and I'm
sharing with the viewers just how muchartistic license and interpretation, my own color
choices, my own design that Ibring in very rare. Do the colors

(32:04):
in my final painting match the colorin my reference photo? So you know
that whole creative license and that abilityto adapt a scene and make it my
own. I continue to explore andto push the limits when it comes to
that, and we'll be back withmore after this short commercial break, so
don't go away, and I'm backwith my guests, the fine artist Michelle

(32:35):
Usibelli. Do you travel back toEurope to your French and Italian ancestry and
look at art in a different waywhen you're there? Do you come back
inspired? Oh? Always, Icome back inspired. I think, you
know, I think as artists everywherewe go, we don't. I don't
think we ever just leadingly pass throughlife. And I mean I think we

(33:01):
we stop and we analyze a scene, and we we look at colors and
we look at shadow patterns, andyou know, I along with the art
for sure, excuse me, forsure with with the art. I mean,
just to see in person. There'snothing like viewing art in person.

(33:22):
Excuse me, just to see thestrokes, the color. Uh, you
know, just that intimacy that youget when you're when you're viewing it in
person is so much different than viewingit through a catalog or just in an
image. But so of course I'minspired when I'm able to see that some
of the great pieces of art itwhen I'm traveling like that. But just

(33:45):
also the you realize around the differentparts of the world, how the light
changes you know how the palette,you know, if I'm painting in Italy,
it's a it's a different set ofcolors and different palette. Just little
nuance is for each place. Andthat's that's intriguing, and it's it's beautiful,
and it's you know, it's justit's it's so wonderful to be able

(34:07):
to look at the world a littlemore intensely, and you really you find
yourself analyzing things a lot more thanjust maybe somebody who's not not thinking of
it from an art standpoint. Doyou have a favorite light? Oh,
well, early morning, you know, for for plane air painters, so

(34:31):
that plane airs is being outside andpainting from life, direct painting, observing
and painting, not not looking ata reference photo. Early early morning light
is beautiful. Midday light when thesun's high, everything is a little bit

(34:51):
washed out, it's a little it'sa little bit too flat that that light.
And then the evening glow, especiallyin Alaska, you know, you
get twenty four hours of daylight,but you have like at eleven PM you
get this alp and glow that thesky is lavender and the reflection on the

(35:12):
mountains is golden, and you know, so For me, it would be
the early morning, right at sunrise, or just that little that period of
time right before sunset, the light, just because I'm also inspired by the
temperature, light and shadow and thedifferent temperatures in a scene, and that's
when those are the most exaggerated duringthe day. I'm wondering what kind of

(35:37):
feelings you get from painting today thatyou might not have got years ago when
you started, when you were learningthat. I'm sures have evolved. Can
you describe it now? Sure?Well, not in a kind of segue.
You know, when we're painting,When I'm painting plane air outside,

(36:01):
you know, it's truly one ofthe places, one of the times where
you are you're really getting absorbed intoa scene. And there's nothing better if
we're if we're painting, if I'min a new location. I was just
in Florida teaching a class last monthand was able to get out and paint.

(36:22):
And when you're when you're spending twohours painting, your list, your
the sights, the sounds, thesmells, observing the light, the color,
I mean, you really do feellike you're creating an intimate relationship with
that particular place. And so there'snothing that's more special than than painting outside

(36:46):
and from life. But you know, we get a lot of times I
am in the studio and what's whatI find out. I'm trying to bring
my experience from painting from life asI as I progress through the years and
painting more and more, I'm tryingto bring those feelings and the lessons and

(37:07):
the thoughts that I that I getwhat I'm painting from life, trying to
bring that into my into the studioso that my work in the studio is
achieving that level of energy and kindof freshness that I would get as if
I were painting outside. What wouldyou say art has taught you, or

(37:29):
inspired you, or brought you tothe person you are now. I'm wondering
how it's impacted your personality, yourcharacter, and indeed your behavior, your
your feeling of place and what's rightand where you belong. That's a great
question. I feel. One thing, this is just a side note that

(37:57):
I'm very you know, as I'vementioned before, ed a goal I'm very
goal oriented. One one thing thatkind of a surprising result of art is,
at the end of the day,for me, it's really it's very
fulfilling for me to look and say, this is this is the fruits of

(38:17):
my day. This is this atangible thing that I created today. So
to me kind of it's it's it. It's something I can look and say,
this is what was accomplished. It'sjust a it's very fulfilling for me
for that art has holistically though,has made me really be able to focus

(38:45):
kind of just stop and pause.It's given me a purpose. It's given
me a greater purpose, a senseof accomplishment. It's just to be able,
you know, to be thankful forthat gift I have that I can
look, I can I can plan, and I will have to paint as

(39:07):
long as I can because it's somethingthat's in my bones. And just to
know that I have this in mylife and to have this ability to create
and find my space is for mea very very calming element to my life,

(39:27):
which I don't think I really hadanything else up to this that gave
me that feeling of kind of peaceand harmony and purpose. What makes you
most proud, then, would yousay, Michelle, Because you teach as
well, you teach workshops, andyou obviously spend a lot of time in
nature, and in the studio,you have different environments and different places to

(39:51):
be. What's the most satisfying foryou. I'm just curious as too,
how it's shaped you on what youfeel is most fulfilling about your art work
and what it does for you.Yeah, I think I think early on,
I thought I would feel the mostfulfilled if I set these arbitrary goal

(40:19):
like getting into a specific gallery orgetting juried into a specific show. But
I've as I've I've maybe gotten older, I've become my art's become more known.
It's it's not those goals that arethe most fulfilling or to me.

(40:43):
For me, I've I've just I'vegrown to embrace and value just the time
that I've carved away to be ableto create. And I I don't compare
my self to any other painter,you know, it's it I'm I.

(41:06):
My successes or my my my goalsare based truly on me being able to
give myself the freedom to experiment andto create and just to create without expectation.
I guess is where I've I've come, And you know, I think

(41:28):
the the success has has come withthis kind of me releasing these arbitrary goals,
and really my goals being just tobe the best painter personally that I
can be my own. I'm I'msuper competitive with myself as far as gosh,

(41:51):
Okay, love this painting, butnext time I'm going to push this
direction or I it's it's it's justbetween the r It is just between me
and my art and nothing else interfereswith that formula for me? Do you
take this to the dining room tableand the family meals? Is this a

(42:14):
topic of conversation of how your arthas been this day? Not really.
It's funny. When my kids werelittle, they all thought I was famous.
And they and I remember we weresomewhere doing something and I had to
I was with my son and Ihad to give my name, and they

(42:35):
asked me to spell it. Andas I spelled it, and then my
son looked at me and he went, you're not famous. They didn't know
who you were. I going,no, I'm not famous. So I
think early on they it was abig part. I mean they all,
each of my children had an easelup in the studio. So when we

(42:57):
were you know, we were allpainting together. They had their canvas and
paints out and I did mine,and it was a very much a part
of their lives. And then asthey've gotten older and you know, gone
on with with their own lives.I mean they they still are are very
very supportive and and they're super proud. You know, my my husband has

(43:20):
been the biggest supporter. I mean, obviously with three children, I could
never have done what I was ableto do time wise, and just just
you know, be able to sharemy journey with him, it was amazing.
But I think now that the kidsare out of the house, it's

(43:42):
it's kind of my own It's kindof my own journey. I think I
I involved my family in the highlightsand different aspects of it, but it's
it's this is it's kind of mymy journey. Does your husband critique your
work? Is he the first personyou called into the studio when you finished
a piece? Yeah? Yeah.He has a great eye. And I'm

(44:08):
really fortunate, you know, yethe has a great eye, and and
I would say for the most part, I do listen to what he says,
but he I'll bring a piece,like I'll move, bring a piece
from the studio that I think isdone. But maybe you know, there's
one passage in it that I'm alittle not quite sure about, but I

(44:32):
think it's it'll be, it'll passand I I'll just put it up on
the mantle and he'll come in andgo that. He'll say, that's not
that piece right there that I'm like, oh really, he goes, no,
d I got to redo that.So he uh, he's more more
and more. I don't get thatcritique from him like that, but you

(44:52):
know, for for a long time, and I still do really value his
you know, because we get sotough vision when we're working on our art.
We're creating, you know, youdon't sometimes see something that's glaring,
and it is wonderful to have somebodyelse who you trust, who you can

(45:14):
can look at something and give youthe thumbs up or the or the thumbs
down. Now you have mentioned Iread, I think on your website that
you were inspired by some notable artistslike John Singosageant for example. They were
all men. Were there any womenthat you were paying attention to when you

(45:36):
started out? You know, Iearly early on before I started painting,
you know, like Annie leave ofItz was someone who I just thought,
Wow, she's she's she's following herpassion and she's she's creating. You have
read a lot of books on theFrench impression and Bertha Morissot who painted with

(46:02):
Manet, Mary Cassatt. There therethere, there are some women trailblazers,
you know, Frida Kayla who justwas stubborn and determined to to paint,
you know, giorgio' keefe. Thesethese women were creating, doing following their

(46:23):
passion, you know, through throughouttheir lives. And they were very inspiring
too. And when you look atthe work, at your work and how
you've evolved, would you say thatit's essential to have the tuition that you've
had over the years, because I'mwondering, because you are so talented,

(46:49):
what your art would look like ifyou had never had a lesson, if
you're completely self taught either. Imean I laughed, because you know,
I did take the art class thatmy husband had had given me as a
gift. I had what I alsodid because my time was so limited with
the with the young kids, Iwould actually invite artists who I admired,

(47:15):
contemporary artists to come to my studioand do a workshop. I may maybe
I wasn't able to attend the wholetime, but I would pop in and
out, so you know, Iso I did. I really tried hard
to study with with those women artiststhat I really admired. But I will

(47:39):
tell my students, compared to alot of artists, I am self pretty
self taught. I mean, Ididn't go to art school, art academy.
And I also say that the joyand the beauty of that is that
I don't. I didn't go toschool with a whole bunch of rules as
far as you must do this,you can't do that. I don't.

(48:02):
I don't have those rules that thata lot of art academy people have.
So I kind of feel like I'mI'm freer to experiment, you know,
obviously make mistakes, but also toyou know, have some successes too,
because uh, experimentation is a bigpart of my methodology when it comes to

(48:27):
to painting. So I but Ibut I always I did have a really
solid grounding in drawing and drawing skills. And I think to be a fine
artist, you that's the if youhave to be able to draw before you
can paint, you know. Itell my my students to you know,

(48:49):
I play the piano, and Isay if you pay the piano, you
just you can't just start by playinga concerto. You have to start with
your scales, and so drawing paintingis kind of it's that same progress.
You know, you start with thescales and then you move in. You
get more and more complicated as yougo. And that's how I look at

(49:10):
the painting journey as well. Youhave to you have to learn, you
have to draw, be able todraw, perspective, vanishing point, human
anatomy. All of that creates thatfundamental basis for successful painting. Color and
pain application is kind of the finalfive percent I think of a of a

(49:34):
well executed piece of art. I'mglad you mentioned the piano because I was
coming to that in your musical talentsas well, because you played the piano
for quite some years. I thinkit was about sixteen years played the piano.
I was never I mean, myhusband can sit down at the piano
and just you know, listen toa tune and then play it. And

(49:58):
I my mom was a beautiful pianisttoo, but both of us we could
not play by ear. We hadto read music. So but yes,
I played the piano for quite quitea while, which I'm glad I had
that. That was I think mymom's way of keeping me inside inside the

(50:19):
house a little bit. And Iknow music is important to you. Still
looking at your playlist, you havea very interesting compilation there of artists and
genres. Where does that fit intoyour life now? If it's not always
allowed in the studio, you know, I wish I was still playing piano,

(50:42):
you know, I do have Ido once in a while, but
you know, I haven't you know, if I had my brothers, I'm
over in the studio painting. Sobut music is important. It's very important
for my husband. He plays thesas and the guitar and the piano.
You know, it's but it's ait's a it's a it's a back you

(51:05):
know, background noise for us asfar as you know, I just I'm
always in awe of musicians and youknow, people that can sing and and
it's something that's a talent I justdo not have. But boy, it's
a it's a it's beautiful to listento that. You have. Goals are

(51:29):
the things that you want to dobeside painting first and fore, I mean
obviously, uh goals goals for paintingare always there. You know, I
have goals like now that the kidsare launched, they're my youngest graduated college
last spring. My my goals noware I mean kind of almost selfish though,

(51:54):
but uh, to really get outand you know, enjoy nature.
You know, I'm I'm very mucha type a personality. I think always.
My biggest goal every year, it'smy New Year's resolution, is to
stop and smell the flowers and justtake a deep breath and just absorb,

(52:17):
just just be happy in the moment. And for me, that continues.
Iout follow me my biggest struggle becauseI'm always my mind is always onto the
next project, or the next issue, or the next thing, so you
know, hope. You know,personally, for me, it's to come
to a piece a place in mylife where i can create and enjoy and

(52:45):
not feel like I'm constantly trying toreach a deadline or on moving on to
the next thing. I want toI want to just enjoy, enjoy the
moment, and that that's probably mybiggest goal. Now. I know you
lost your father, Michelle, andyour and your mother is in the latter

(53:07):
stages of Alzheimer's. When we lookback on our life there's always major milestones.
There's always events, sometimes tragedies,but you know, happy events too.
What would you describe as your majormilestones and the things that have have
changed you in some way. Idefinitely think the passing of my father was

(53:31):
a milestone for me. It wasa very very strong presence in so many
people's lives, especially as children,you know, very dominant, very you
know, So it was a itwas a bittersweet passing. It was you

(53:52):
know, the first as a kindof a growth that was it's been almost
seventeen years now, but you know, I think when you when you lose
a parent or both, all ofa sudden, you no matter how old
you are, you think, ohmy gosh, my my, the parent's
gone, and now I'm I'm I'mthat generation, We're the old generation,

(54:16):
you know. So that that wasa philosophical kind of mindset change for me
when when my dad passed, Ido think, you know, we've been
dealing with my mom's illness for almostsix years now. It's I don't have
an answer to it, but ithas sure caused me to pause and really

(54:40):
think about life and how fleeting itis and how you know when you get
when you see somebody in the finalstages of cognitive decline. You know,
you just you learn to not takeany any day for granted and spend as

(55:00):
much time with my kids, myhusband, family, and kind of circling
back to that my goal of pause, being able to take a moment or
you know, really absorb what's happeningat the moment, enjoy, enjoy the
moment, and not not live forthe past or not live for the future,
but to just try to live forwhat what what is what, what

(55:23):
today is bringing, and what wouldbe a favorite way to spend the day
then if you weren't working, probablyhiking up in the mountains, up in
the mountains hiking, or or onthe shore on the water out on the
seashore. I did do an amazingtrip with girlfriends this past September. We

(55:51):
did a we went for almost aweek and a half up in the Dolomites
and we're hiking from town to townand you know, just to get away
from social media, just connect fromour phones, just enjoy nature, enjoy
each other, and just take sometime for to give our our minds a

(56:15):
little bit of a break from allthe day to day stuff going on.
It was. It was very mucha life changing, a wonderful, peaceful
trip for me to do. So, yeah, it would would be being
out, being out in nature,I think, or or sitting and reading
a good book and not not havingto be interrupted. What would be a

(56:38):
good book for you? What's onyour nightstand? Oh? Right now,
it's so I always have a bookon tape that when I'm driving back and
forth to Montana or if I'm flyingor traveling, I have an audio book.
So right right now my audiobook asthe Women, uh, the story

(57:00):
about Vietnam that just came out.And my book i'm reading is a mitcher
I've never read Mitchener's book Hawaii,so I'm just coming to the end of
that book right now. So,you know, Wallace Stagner's one of my
favorite artists and rand fiction, historicalfiction I love. I'm not I'm not.

(57:30):
I don't find that I'm reading toomuch nonfiction, but I do.
I do love my historical fiction.Kristin Hannah's book Than the Women. Yes,
yes, that's in Vietnam with thenursing call. Yeah, that's the
kind of thing you like to buryyourself in. Yep, exactly, very
good book. You know. Oneof the things we say about relationships,

(57:54):
Michelle is how we just want tobe understood. That's primary. Yes,
to be loved, but to beunderstood. Do you think art and you
showing your body of work now,is that something that helps people understand you.
Do you feel that they understand youthrough your art? Hmmm? I

(58:19):
think that's a good question. II do. I do think that our
personalities, our true essence of whowe are, how it comes out in
our work. I think it hasto because art is created, we create
from the heart. And I thinkwhy that's so scary also is because it

(58:45):
is art is such a personal reflectionof who we are, and if we
are showing our art in public,we are really exposing ourselves and our vulnerabilities
to people to critique and to bequestioned or under the good and the bad.

(59:07):
So yes, I do. Ithink everyone who knows me personally and
they know my art, they say, gosh, this your art is you.
It's who we think of you asa person. And for a long
time, when I first started painting, I felt that my art had to
have a deeper I had to alwayshave a message or a deeper meaning.

(59:31):
And I finally was comfortable really justbelieving that. You know, if my
art, if somebody looks at myart and it brings a smile to their
face or they it recalls in thema memory of a time or place or
look you know that that is dearto them, then then I feel like

(59:52):
I've succeeded in my art. Idon't I don't strive to have a deep
under a deep meaning that's buried underthe lairs at somebody. I'm just trying
to make the world a more beautifulplace and bring make bike people pause and
and just smile. And if Ican do that, I feel like I've

(01:00:14):
succeeded with that particular piece. Yousound like a very happy and content woman.
I have my mo I'm a I'ma conflict right, yeah, yes,
yes, when it comes. Ithink that's what art has done for
me. But I think with anyartists, I mean, there are also

(01:00:37):
the anxieties and the you know,I'm not doing enough. I'm you know,
I definitely have my moments. You'veasked my husband where he has to
kind of help me off my outof my tree and say, hey,
whoa, let's we gotta let's stepback and look at everything. So,

(01:00:58):
but yes, for for I thinkthat's it's a work in progress. Chris,
So it it's definitely a work inwork in progress. But I feel
as I am getting older and maturingthat that I'm able to really look back
and really celebrate the opportunities that I'vehad. And what are you looking forward

(01:01:22):
to this year? Do you haveany shows workshops that we should know about
this I'm looking let's see what isthis year. I'm actually really excited next
year where I'm going to be doinga small group show at the Booth Western

(01:01:43):
Art Museum in Georgia, which isa wonderful at the top western Art museum,
UH in the country, one ofone of the there's a few that
are amazing, and the Booth isone of them. We'll be doing a
show there which is which is ahuge, very very proud of that back.

(01:02:04):
So I'll be spending a lot ofmy year working to prepare for that
show. And then I do havein the works a new gallery that I'm
not able I'm not able to talkabout right now, but it's it's uh
New York and London, and I'llbe it's more of an app I'll be

(01:02:28):
able to take my work more tothe apps, a little more to the
abstract than I'm doing right now.So it's I'm spending the year experimenting and
really kind of pushing some of thelimits for that, which is inspirational for
me to be able to do that. And then just my my typical I've
got shows that I do every year, museums, the museum shows that I

(01:02:52):
do every year. I am headingto France to teach where I'll be teaching
in Provan at the in June thiscoming June, so that's I guess that's
the next big thing on my calendaris is a trip to June. Our
trip to Provence in June, andthen my family is meeting me at the

(01:03:15):
end, so we'll be able tospend a little time together, which will
be exciting and fun. Do youhave any galleries on your bucket list that
you would love to show at?Yes, there's one in la that I
would love to show at. Youknow, the galleries. It's so interesting

(01:03:37):
because I spent when I first startedpainting, my goal was just to get
into gallery, and I was in. I got into so many galleries,
and as I've gone through this journey, I realized I just really would like
one or two wonderful, amazing galleriesthat I can establish a long term relationship

(01:04:02):
with. And so that's kind ofI've spent the last probably five or six
years getting out of galleries, andI'm looking for that that one or the
one or two galleries where I ama perfect fit, where I complement their
existing stable of artists, where Ican just you know, work with,

(01:04:26):
just consolidate the number of galleries thatI'm working with. So it's that I
always take my approach to galleries.It's a taken more of a long term
approach. It has to has tokind of be organic, and it has
to make sure I have to makesure that they are as excited about me
as I am about them. Thatit's a it's a two way street.

(01:04:48):
And so I think things are inthe works and I think it's all going
in a good direction. Well,your art is certainly caused to be excited,
Michelle. I want to wish youthe very best of luck with it
for the shows to come and yourplans ahead of time. And thank you
again for coming on the show.Really appreciate you taking the time. Well,

(01:05:12):
thank you, Chris. I lovetalking art and honored that to be
your guest, so you're doing.I love the podcast, so thank you,
Thank you so much. And youfind a link to Michelle's social media
and to her website in the shownotes. You'll also find a link to
our Instagram account That's the Art Podcast, where you can follow us leave your

(01:05:33):
comments and questions and suggestions for gueststoo. We always love to hear from
you. My thanks again to myguests this week, Michelle Usabelli, and
to you for listening. I'll beback next week with another guest from the
world of visual arts, so Ido hope you'll join me then

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Brushes of Emotion: A Personal Conversation with Fine Artist Michele Usibelli

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