Hey, I'm Michelle!
I'm a full time car enthusiast, part time maker. Dog mom, book lover, dragon nerd, and obesssed with hummingbirds and flowers (my entire arm is tattooed in them), I'm also a proud owner of more bonsais and monsteras than any reasonable person needs.
I love fiercely. Pitbulls, banned books, people who don't always get a fair shot, and fantasy worlds I can disappear into for days. I get joy from the little things and I've been told more than once that I'm a lot to handle. I'm okay with that.
I've been making things my whole life. Every present as a kid was a drawing book (I never got very good at that part, but I never stopped trying). Through school I signed up for every art class I could get my hands on. Ceramics, watercolors, photography, oil painting life/figure drawing, you name it. I just wanted to absorb every medium possible.
That led me to take graphic design classes in high school. It made deciding to make it my major in college a cinch. I dove more into photography in college, bookbinding, all of it. Art was never one thing for me, it was everything. It just took a while to find the medium that finally felt like home.
My grandfather was a well known woodcrafter north of Detroit.
Everyone knew who he was the minute he walked into the Home Depot. His workshop smelled like wood chips, lakeside Michigan air, and home. As a kid I thought what he could make with his hands was the coolest thing in the world, but I never thought to ask him to teach me. I just wanted to be near it.
He passed away before I ever dreamed of Carbon Teal. Before I ever touched my first scroll saw. Before I understood what it meant to make something with your hands that didn't exist before you touched it.
I think about him every time I'm in the shop. Every time I create a pile of sawdust. Every time I put the finishing touch on a piece.
My dad inherited that same gift. He builds furniture with skills passed down from my grandfather and knowledge he's built on his own over the years. Between the two of them, woodworking was always in the background of my life, always present, always respected. I just didn't realize until later that it was quietly waiting for me too.
What I make and how I make it.
I have loved nature my entire life, and living in Colorado means I can be completely surrounded by it all day every day. A 2020 road trip showed us parts of Colroado that took my breath away. Standing at Dragon Point Overlook in Gunnison National Park, ideas of Along the Bends started creeping into my brain.
When I'm starting any piece, I hand pick every single piece of wood, looking for intricate grain and character. Spalted woods are my favorite because no two pieces are ever the same. Every piece of art that comes out of my shop is shaped painted and finished by hand. It takes hours, it exhausts me, it kills my body, but watching a piece of wood become a canyon, ocean, hummingbird, florals (you name it!) makes every step worth it.