We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michelle Bennett. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michelle below.

Hi Michelle , thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

It is never easy to put your all into something. You need to believe it, know it and absolutely love what you are doing so that the moment you wake up you are craving the next adventure the day brings. You also need the people around you to support you. You need to support you. Earning a full time living from my creative work is what drives me to paint everyday. The fact that I can live off something I truly am passionate about and want to share with a world audience is what makes me love my work. Of course there are days of doubt when you are looking at your bank account wondering how you are going to pay for dinner this week, and there’s people out there maybe even family members who will try to convince you “it’s time to get a normal job”. All of that could lead to struggle, or it could give you the drive to make it. I know I have something worth saying, and I know that my art is the loudest voice that I have, and that has any reach in this world. So everyday I wake up, I get into my studio and I create the life I wish to live.

Michelle , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I placed full trust in myself and my art in 2020 when I did not go back to teaching college art. Instead I became a full time artist. I am currently working out of my studio in the city of Detroit. When I finally settled in Detroit in 2016 there was a sense of grounding, I knew I had found a place where I can grow, but I hibernated first. I sat with myself. I sat with the many artworks I had created over the years in college. I sat with all the skills I had gained, with the many ideas I had, and honed in on what I needed to say now. I worked art related jobs for years. I showed my work as much as possible, and I started teaching art at the college level. But my soul was not fed and it left me wanting more for myself. Now I am a professional oil painter who creates realistic portraits taking on commissioned work frequently to help pay the bills. Currently I am building a body of work investigating human existence through the lens of the sovereign woman. Most of the commission requests I receive now directly relate to these themes of female embodiment. I am exhibiting artwork, working towards a solo show with this new body of work, and immersing myself in all things art everyday.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Honestly yes, there is a goal and a mission that is driving my creative journey. My art will take me to all the places in the world I have ever wanted to go and I tell myself that every single day. That is the goal, to live life and to make art the catalyst for living. I could get a teaching job again and work hard to provide a good life for myself in the education system, I’d have summers off and the stability of a regular paycheck. But I’ve already done that so I took a risk. I took a risk in myself, put that risk into my passion and became a professional artist, LIVING NOW!

The mission is to always uplift the divine feminine in all people using heart centered compositions emanating powers through the visual work to waken and connect this radiant being inside all of us.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I can think to the future and list this or that about the rewards of being an artist long term, but in the now where we are living, I would have to say finding patience in my studio practice is the ultimate reward. I am not a patient person. In fact, I am always on the go trying to accomplish more than the actual hours I have in a day. My to do lists are always long and my projects and ideas are never ending. Being able to get into the studio and slow down on an oil painting is the reward. Mixing paint becomes my morning meditation. Brushing paint onto a canvas is the beat and rhythm. I alleviate the stress that builds up in my mind through painting. My reward is the practice.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @michellebennettstudio
• Other: Email: Mbennettartist@gmail.com