From roots on a 100-acre Georgia farm to her current status as an acrylic artist, Michelle Schultz’s journey mirrors the layers and vibrancy of her art. With an approach that unifies ancestral heritage and contemporary femininity, Schultz is not just painting—she’s cultivating an artistic community that includes a global cohort.
An acrylic artist with a home studio in Bend, Schultz specializes in large-scale paintings and has most recently exhibited her work at Scalehouse Gallery. Her expressive pieces often explore themes of the female experience, heritage, nostalgia and spirituality.
These themes are deeply rooted in Schultz’s childhood. As a young girl, she spent a lot of time in her grandmother’s kitchen. “I was surrounded by my aunts with everyone cooking and laughing,” she said. The women gathered to create Lebanese dishes, celebrating their heritage. Schultz’s grandmother was the matriarch who showed her what it looked like to work hard, “She was basically the one who was working the farm,” Schultz recalled. “She was out chopping wood and driving tractors.”
The example set by her grandmother, who was “completely herself” and who embodied ancestral strength, inspires and permeates Schultz’s art today. “She was so honest and spoke her mind, but still had all of the Southern sayings,” Schultz said.
This influence is unmistakable in Schultz’s work, which has developed through her various adventures, including a defining three-year stint in New Zealand. There, she immersed herself in local culture, finding inspiration from Maori tattoos and the country’s supportive art community. “I really got to explore their culture and heritage,” Schultz said, recalling how this era taught her to create community and make a name for herself.
Art school is where Schultz became serious about being an Artist, with a capital A. An assignment with egg tempera—a painting technique that mixes egg yolk with powdered pigment made popular during the Renaissance—influenced her layered approach. “Egg tempera took so many layers to build up, and this has come into my work,” Schultz explained. “It’s almost like building something until it comes alive.”
Her 8-foot-wide piece, “Sistine Feelings,” depicts a snake navigating the canvas, with a baby’s hand latched to an adult’s as the centerpiece. “In the background there are all these patterns that represent my Lebanese heritage,” Schultz pointed out.
Schultz’s painting communicates life’s juxtapositions, revealing resilience and vulnerability. Like many of her pieces, it’s forthcoming about womanhood. The bold and multifaceted messaging is something most impactfully observed in person.
“I go back and forth. Sometimes, I will be so soft. And then I have to let the other side out,” Schultz said of her range. This is pronounced in her painted skateboards, which represent her “freedom and rebellion.”
Her latest collection, “Prisms,” shown at Scalehouse Gallery, was inspired by another kitchen moment; a sun-catching prism reminded her of “the magic in the world through my children and through the ancestry that has been passed down.” For the exhibit, she collaborated with HUE (Hearts Unknown Education) to teach children how to paint their own prisms with watercolor. Their art was then displayed alongside hers at the show.
Schultz describes the process of her art coming alive as capturing souls. “I’m pouring my soul into my work, but then there’s this amazing conversation between the artist and the canvas, and then the viewer and the canvas,” she said. “They bring their own experiences, feelings and emotions—their own life.”
Beyond painting, Schultz expresses herself and uplifts fellow artists through her podcast, “She Who Paints,” a blog, and community spaces such as her Collector’s Circle and Instagram @michelleschultzart. Through these channels, she creates resources and an outlet of expression as “a community and a space for other artists to find inspiration and to keep giving their art to the world–because it would be a sad place without it,” Schultz said.
Painted skateboard decks can be found at The Haven, Bend. See more at michelleschultzstudio.com.
