Biography

Michelle Himes-McCrory was born in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Her youth saw her frequently moving between various states and cities, with a love of making art always accompanying her along the way. After two years of studying printmaking and illustration at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, a desire to be closer to her family led her back to Oklahoma. She graduated with a fine art degree from Oklahoma State University with an emphasis on watercolor and printmaking. After graduating, she taught drawing, watercolor, and design courses at Oklahoma State University. Michelle now works out of her studio and merges sculpture, painting, and printmaking in her art.

Artist Statement

The process of creating art is never boring when you are a mixed media artist. My curiosity for learning and trying different art techniques creates a varied body of work that combines many different mediums. One of my favorite aspects of artmaking is that there is always more to learn and something new to discover. I found that I could merge my love for both painting and printmaking by working on Claybord – painting them and then using traditional printmaking carving methods on the panels. Using woodblock carving tools, I meticulously create shallow grooves in the panel, combining a subtractive method along with watercolor and acrylic paint.

My artwork is often autobiographical in nature, but I also find inspiration from many places including nature and the Oklahoma landscape. One of my latest printmaking series includes embellished relief prints made with individual carved blocks that were hand-printed one at a time. The artwork is composed of flora and fauna around my home by the lake. From fallen acorns to the Canada geese found in my backyard, I fit them together in my work like puzzle pieces – forming an intricate portrait of my surrounding environment.