Meet Michelle Calkins | Artist with a professional day job

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Calkins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
Starting as early as four years old, one of my favorite pastimes was looking out the car window, watching the world go by while mentally capturing compositions of clouds, buildings, telephone wires. (And these early compositions even had frames by incorporating the car window frame!)

Creating art is a huge piece of my authentic self.

I set aside this piece of my authentic self in early adulthood, choosing, trying to earn a living and gain independence. Years later, I chose to then bury this cherished piece of myself, while I raised and provided for my small family, earned two college degrees and raised two children in club (traveling) sports.

I began to forget about the full spectrum of my authentic self, prioritizing other worldly pressures over creating art. I was lucky enough to find several mentors wiser than myself. They helped me exhume this integral piece of my authentic self.

Having lost it for several decades, I now cherish honoring all aspects of my authentic self as one of my top guiding, core values.

And to anyone who has also buried pieces of their authentic selves, I invite you to make space in your life for your authentic self: your authentic self is waiting for you.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
ATARAXIA:
Noun
1 calmness or peace of mind; emotional tranquility

I heard a short story in my 20’s: “Once there was an elderly gentleman who took two paintings to a local gallery and asking the owner their opinion of the two paintings. The owner looked at the first painting and reacted nonplussed. When shown the second painting, the owner got very excited, wanting to know more of the artist and if more works were available. The elderly gentleman then shared he completed the first painting a short time ago. The gallery owner wanted to know more about the artist of the second painting. The elderly gentleman explained he was the artist of the second painting as well. He completed it when he was in his twenties.”

My career as an artist has been full of blatant ignoring (of my need and ability to create art), completing usual milestones out of order, and slowly realizing, despite so many memories of really feeling alive when painting, whether it was when I had 4 years, 14 years, or 44 years under my belt, that I needed to paint.

And yet, for decades I struggled to know what to paint. And wow! that is a really hard hole to fill – knowing you are supposed to paint but not knowing what to paint! And for decades, repeating the story of the elderly gentleman so often to myself.

In college, I remember an art instructor somewhat chiding my paintings, commenting how true artists feel a drive, a need, to paint daily and art was supposed to make a person feel (as in big emotions), not peaceful like the ataraxy I wanted to share and convey. I felt lesser as an artist compared to my classmates and in general. One day, my professor came out to the hillside terrace where we were allowed to paint sometimes. Our assignment was to oil paint the same image three times. My third painting finally loosened up enough to be interesting to my professor – another time I heard surprise about my painting from a person who is knowledgeable about art.

I have spent enough of my life (at least 2-3 decades worth!) taking care of others’ needs that I could be referred to as a people pleaser. As I have settled into middle age, I have learned to tap into and explore my own interests more. This combined with seeing the work of Chris Long regularly on my Instagram feed, I had some slow moving epiphanies. The first was that I loved his paintings and felt inspired to create my own. The second was realizing that I could paint what I actually loved: clouds, sun, sky, land.

This circles back to honoring our authentic selves without trying to please others. My authentic self needs to paint the symmetry and beauty I find in everyday life in Western Colorado. The best thing I could hope for by sharing my story is that someone else will be inspired to honor their authentic selves. Life is too short to not be true to our authentic selves. If we are not living for them, who are we living for?

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I get most of my inspiration for paintings and photographs from the beauty of Western Colorado. Hiking the high desert at sunrise – any season, except for mud, of course – is one of my ultimate favorite inspirations. My current favorites are off of Little Park Road: Gunny Loop, Good Vibes, and Snakeskin. Another fun set of trails friendly to all ages for hiking and biking is Lunch Loops. While I thoroughly enjoy hiking local trails, many in Western Colorado enjoy mountain biking and riding UTV / ATV to enjoy more beautiful country – with fewer people and roads.

When I am feeling more like an ambivert, eating out at Azteca’s in Orchard Mesa can also offer some soft inspiration. With teenage roots in San Diego, trips to Mexico were regular. Azteca’s is bright and colorful and the food is so amazing, as though
I was eating on the other side of the border again.

In the Grand Valley where I live, so many people enjoy wine tasting and the many festivals (Palisade Bluegrass and Roots Festival, Peachfest, Colorado Mountain Winefest, etc.). Me? I really love the drives around Palisade and East Orchard Mesa for more artistic inspiration, especially when the afternoon sun is illuminating the Grand Mesa and the hills leading up to it.
Connected Lakes is a favorite spot to walk with my dogs and capture water reflections, digitally or via plein aire. It is also such a paddleboard friendly lake and fun to explore the connection between the lakes.

I had the opportunity to visit the Grand Valley before I moved here. What has always stood out to me about this hidden gem of a community, is the quality of the dark black night with so many stars above. Others may enjoy stargazing, finding constellations, and photographing the night skies. I am adept at finding the Big Dipper and natural artistic inspiration from the night time in Grand Junction.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
In the usual fashion, I tell you I owe any success I have as an artist (and person) to my parents and family, my friends, my mentors. My parents even let me paint a mural on their garage wall when I was sixteen years old! Since they would see it every time they pulled their cars into park, they chose their favorite, a tropical scene.

I have also been extremely fortunate to have some unexpected interactions that profoundly pushed me to take my art to the business level, including applying again to juried shows.

And then —

sometimes a person says a few words or sentences that can change your life.

I had one such transformative experience while I was taking classes that required intense reflection of ourselves: solo, with a partner, or a group. In a one-on-one with my instructor, in which I thought I was there to talk about being a single mom and how to get out of my own way to build a relationship with another while parenting teenagers! she lasered on, I’m guessing, what I was not saying. While This began further self reflection. I am also a muller by nature – I prefer to take a long time to carefully weigh information and make decisions. While in my mulling state 3-4 months later, I had another impactful experience with another person while talking about art and creativity.

This profound experience came from working late and talking to the evening cleaning person, who told me how they refinished antiques into high end resale. The conversation turned towards creativity in general and when I showed them a recent painting, their comment was likely more impactful than most other interactions, in that it inspired me to action. They looked at my painting and said “Oh, that’s gallery quality” and hearing the surprised tone in their voice combined with the phrase “gallery quality” helped me see that maybe I did have talent that I could be sharing with others.

Website: michelle.calkins.artstorefronts.com

Instagram: ataraxic_pics

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-calkins-349109201

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