For Michele Yellin, painting is a metaphor for life. Much of the process, like much of living, is about joy and beauty and story. But it is also about not being too attached to things, and knowing that letting go of one thing creates a place for something new.

Primarily Michele works with acrylic paint on canvas or board. Her paintings evolve organically. She begins by laying down texture and color in a freeform way. The textures and colors suggest shapes and spaces in the under-painting, much like clouds create shapes in the sky. Michele draws and paints on the canvas the things that she sees. Some things stay, others are painted over, developing paintings that have many layers. Through this process, the painting begins to tell a story and it is how Michele discovers and reveals her inner life.

Currently the Michele Yellin lives in Chapel Hill. NC. She grew up primarily in the Northeastern United States relocating every few years because of her father’s employment with IBM. That job led the family to move to a suburb outside of Paris, France for 4 years during the 1970s when the artist was 11 years old. While always interested in art and the making of art, it was on a visit to the newly opened Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, that helped set the course for the artist’s life long passion for color and texture.

The artist has a loyal following of art collectors in North Carolina and beyond. Michele is currently a studio artist at Artspace in Raleigh, NC.  Half the week she paints in her home studio in the woods in rural Chapel Hill, and half the week at her studio at Artspace in Raleigh, NC. There she continues to teach summer painting classes to teens, as well as engaging with the public who visit her studio.