Artist Spotlight: Michele Usibelli
Artist, Michele Usibelli, is inspired by a lifelong passion for creativity. Here’s what influences her and why she likes M Graham products.
Question:
Tell us about yourself, where you are from and how long have you been painting?
Answer:
I split my time between Washington State and Montana. I’ve kind of taken a circuitous path to being an artist, but I am an architect by training. I worked for a few years, so I’ve had a lot of drawing and technical drafting experience, and then just started painting. I’ve always wanted to paint but began painting when I had two young children. Once I started taking my first art classes, thinking that it would be just for a temporary amount of time, but it has become a lifelong passion. I am now a full-time professional working artist.
Question:
When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
Answer:
I think from early on, in fact, I had been going through some boxes of old art that my mom had actually saved from elementary school. I came across a program that we put together for parents night when I was in second grade. As part of that program, we had out on our desks a little booklet about what we want to be when we grew up. At that time, mine was all illustrated saying that I wanted to be an artist.
Question:
Do you have any specific influences that influence your art or your painting in general or anyone who’s inspired you?
Answer:
There’s so many but I really was drawn to the work of, Nikolai Tchen. I admired his ability to draw and his ability to create these beautiful portraits that were very detailed in the face but then abstracted in the background. I just love that juxtaposition of real sensitive brushwork with very bold and abstract brushwork. Sergeant has always been a favorite, and it’s these artists that we can historically look back on that were creating beautiful paintings, but all of their work has an emotion to it as well. There’s something about their work that really draws the viewer in and really asks you to stop and explore it for a little bit. Those are the painters historically, and contemporary painters today, that I really am drawn to; the ones that really have an energy to their work that kind of transcends just pretty art.
Question:
Do you tend to stick to one style that you create, or do you ever explore outside of that to get your creative juices flowing and try to explore different types?
Answer:
I think that’s a great question, and I think so many artists approach it differently. Being an architect, my whole schooling and training was very tight drafting, very linear, very precise work. I knew when I first started painting that I wanted my work to be more impressionistic and freer and outside of those constraints. My goal has always been to say more with less brush strokes. I don’t want to put every single detail down. I want to leave a lot for the viewer to fill in on their own. My goals now, as they always have been, are continuing to be less and less detailed and more abstract and impressionistic with my approach. I’m always pushing the limits and always trying to play with color.
I try to paint from life as much as I can. Living in Seattle or Montana the weather isn’t always conducive to getting outside and painting plein air. If I do a couple paintings from reference photographs, I will always set up a still life or go outside and paint plein air just to get my mind going, get creative and get out of that tight box of just painting from reference photos. Really painting from life brings in such a freshness and a freedom into your artwork. I do a lot of abstract, almost graffiti type art on huge panels with cans of spray paint and molding paste. These are completely unplanned, spontaneous pieces of work. This is to help me loosen up and to get out of this rigid, timeframe tightness that a lot of artists kind of fall into when they continue to work from photographs all the time.
Question:
Why do you choose M. Graham over other brands of paint?
Answer:
I paint equally as much in oil as I do in acrylic, and I paint in gouache. One thing about M. Graham over the years, because I use all these different mediums, is there’s just a consistency across all those mediums that I get with M. Graham. I consider myself a colorist. I know what I get with M. Graham, I love olive green. I know every time I order an olive green oil paint, it will be that color. Because for me, even little nuances in recipe changes, it really messes with my process, and I feel like I have to learn it all over again. So lots of things, but I think the consistency and the customer support has been, it’s just been unmatchable.
Question:
How does honey affect your experience overall with gouache, as well as compared to other types of paints?
Answer:
I’ve not come across a gouache that acts like M. Graham’s gouache as far as the consistency. One thing I try to do with gouache, which I think comes from my background as an oil painter, is to incorporate that tactile element, which is the thin and thick paint. I don’t apply it like a watercolor. I apply my gouache more like an oil. I think it’s the honey in M. Graham that allows me to do these thick impasto passages in my painting, which I can’t do with other brands. Along with the paint application, the honey also slows down the drying time of the gouache. Especially if you’re doing outside plein air painting with gouache or in a dry environment, that’s the biggest gripe that people have about gouache, it’s drying too fast and it’s so hard to work with. If I use a stay wet palette and M. Graham gouache, it’s workable for so much longer. That’s huge when you’re trying to do get a painting done, you don’t have to fight that drying time.
Question:
- Graham is known for its richness and pigments. How does that affect your work?
Answer:
Once you’ve painted enough, you start to really see the difference between a less intense pigment versus a stronger pigment. The more you paint, the more you get used to a certain way and you rely on that. One thing I love about M. Graham are the quinacridones. They’re transparent and they mix so well with other colors to create a phenomenal variation and ability to create so many different little color nuances. I always tone my substrate with a metallic gold or a warm color. With all my oil paintings, I tone my canvas or panels with M Graham’s nickel quinacridone gold. I do a lot of scratching out versus just applying paint, so I just love that warm gold coming through. You don’t see it unless you’re really looking for it. But that is consistent with all of my work, is that under color undertone.
Question:
Where can people find your work or take a workshop with you or an online class?
Answer:
My website is www.micheleusibelli.com, and I list all of my upcoming workshops there. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook as well, Michelle Usibelli Art. M. Graham has supported me and my workshop attendees, and we’re grateful for that because I’ve been able to introduce all of my students to the product, and they’ve all really appreciated it as well. We owe M. Graham a huge thank you as well.
Website: www.micheleusibelli.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/micheleusibelli/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/micheleusibelliart/?hl=en
