Michaela's entire life has been a constant hunt for beauty. Growing up she was always drawn to the romantic, the whimsical, and the small hidden places that tell secrets and stories left by people long gone. What inspires each and every piece she paints can be different from moment to moment. It can be the light, the colour, or the line of any given subject. Sometimes its the honest moment shared by two people that tell a story about their relationship. Michaela loves finding someone enjoying a moment of peace, capturing it on camera, then trying to communicate that same feeling of peace through paint.

Art has been a constant in her life. The struggle to build her skill is endlessly satisfying, the relationships that she's built through art have been incredibly meaningful to her. Art was the thing that Michaela was really good at that made her feel better when she was terrible at sports. It was how she expressed herself to how she found a place where she fit into the world.

Her methods have evolved over the years but they always start with a feeling or mood or a photo she has taken either in her own backyard or while traveling abroad. Michaela chooses the medium she will paint with specifically to suit the needs of the story or emotion that she is sharing. The combination of figure and environment creates a narrative that speaks to everyone differently. She feels that adding the human element into her work helps the viewer become a participant, to step into the canvas and interact with the work on an intimate level. What it comes down to is, she paints pictures that she likes. Michaela hopes that you will like them too.

Switchbacks - The George Tosh Collection