We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michele Rogers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michele, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The art project I am currently working on, my First Nations collection, means a lot to me because it connects different generations, capturing the spirit of grandmothers and granddaughters in my Métis heritage. I didn’t grow up immersed in the culture but I resonate with it and it brings me peace knowing I’m a part of a beautiful history. When I paint their faces and emotions, I’m not just making portraits; I’m sharing their stories, their experiences, and their beauty . Telling stories through my art is an honoring that all women deserve. My mom’s Métis family history in Saskatchewan adds more depth and meaning to my work, showing resilience, identity, and tradition. Through my art, I’m paying tribute to my ancestors and giving their stories a voice, making sure they stay a lively part of my community’s memory. This is important for helping everyone understand and appreciate Métis women’s culture and history, because they were truly the backbone of where we are today.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

While I’ve always loved crafting, tole painting, crocheting, woodworking, sculpting with a fabric hardener, sketching, all the things, my fine art journey started only about 3 years ago. I had dabbled in painting, but never even dreamed I would be painting faces. That just seemed too outside of my comfort zone.

A friend had commissioned me to paint a piece with her dad and the tiny one inch face took me over 20 tries, so I was intimidated by all things faces.

But I was never one to truly give up, so I decided two years ago to try a face. I chose First Nations grandmothers initially because their wisdom, their stories, and their strength empowered me to keep going.

The wrinkled grandmother faces led to the innocent childrens faces and then to the powerful warrior women.

I believe all women of every culture deserve to be celebrated. They deserve to have their stories told. They deserve to be remembered. And while I don’t paint any specific person, I do believe that my paintings tell the story of all women, globally. Their struggles, their achievements, their bravery and courage and the injustices of others towards women.

I am Métis. My mother’s family has a great historical ties to Saskatchewan and I want to carry that legacy forward. As society evolves. I can feel that significant part of how we came to this land starting to slip away. Each generation gets more focused on the new ways, and I don’t want us to ever forget the roles of women in creating this beautiful province and country.

We also have a global issue happening with Indigenous women being murdered or going missing. It’s frightening and the MMIW (Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women) organization is doing what it can to bring awareness to the horrific situation. By painting strong, fierce, brave Indigenous females, I’m hoping to remind society that these women matter. All women matter, they always have.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

When you’re a creative, there’s a certain vulnerability to what you do and a loneliness.

Not everyone will ‘get’ what you paint. Not everyone will understand it. And they judge it or comment on it negatively, and sometimes that stings a little. Because you know you put your everything into what you create and others throw mud at it because they don’t understand.

That’s the vulnerability. Knowing others may not see your heart and how you paint or create what’s inside you. It takes huge amounts of bravery to share that aspect of you.

There are times when there’s a gathering or family and friends are doing fun things and you cannot attend because you have deadline on a commission piece or gallery show or an article to write. Taking care of your social media pages takes time too. And unless my husband and family come sit by me while I’m painting, I don’t get to visit with them as often as I’d like. So it can get lonely.

Add that loneliness on top of the vulnerability where folks may be dissing your work publicly on social media, it can be a heart wrenching career!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

While I am still building my audience on social media, the one thing I’ve learned is to, well, there’s two things I’ve learned.

First, do not give any energy to the trolls. Everyone has trolls on social media. Those are the folks or the bots who can rip you apart in the comments and leave you raw and bleeding. As rude and disrespectful as they are, I now laugh at their creativity. Then I ban and block. Those are not my people and I do not have to justify myself to anyone who will never understand my vision. Ever. What some don’t understand, however, is that those negative comments can actually grow your page as others comment back and fiercely protect you. Let ‘em comment. Get some traction on it then send them off packing. Don’t stop painting or sharing because you fear the trolls. They’re so insignificant to your career, so don’t give them any power at all.

The second thing is don’t be afraid to share you! Not just your art. People want to see you. They want to see your paint stained clothing and messy hair. They want real and authentic. In a world that seems to find happiness and joy scrolling all day, give them the real messy you so they realize that their own messiness is pretty cool too. It’s getting pretty hard to tell what is fake or real now with AI popping up everywhere so I encourage everyone to just be themselves. Wrinkles, gray hair, messy studios, it’s ok. You’re truly okay being you.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelerogersart
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/michelerogersart