An Interview With Michele Owen

Artist, Michele Owen in her Wattle Glen studio.

Masterful Brands Agency is delighted to share an interview with Melbourne Artist Michele Owen, recorded in September 2021 and shared here for the first time. Discover why Michele creates and the one piece of advice she would give to any emerging female artist:

Why do you create?

It’s almost involuntary, I think. I was a very artistic child, always writing stories and poetry, drawing and painting. I studied ballet, and I can remember improvisation being my favourite part of any class. I was highly imaginative, and self-expression was a natural outlet.

I have also come to realise that those periods of my life where I was unable to express myself creatively were my least happy. Creating in some form is strongly tied to my inner happiness and well-being.

Who are you?

I’m a visual artist, wife to a good guy, mother of two adult sons (who still keep me on my toes) and two border collies who run the house and lucky friend of many. I live and work in Wattle Glen on a small rural property nestled amongst picturesque hills in outer northeast Melbourne. Apart from painting, my garden is another passion and really another giant canvas.

Although formally trained in design and colour, I’m primarily a self-taught artist and have studied independently with highly regarded Australian and international teachers and artists. My professional background includes working in marketing, communications and project management, and as a remedial massage therapist. I did many things before finding my way back to the creative passions of my childhood.

I love to travel throughout regional Australia and to work ‘en plein air’ (on location) in small studies that capture the essence of a place, returning to the studio to develop intuitive works from memory. I believe our connection to nature and place is vital to our well-being. I hope this transcends my art to evoke a response of elation and peace.

If you could give an emerging woman artist one piece of advice, what would it be?

Trust yourself.

Where do you find beauty?

I find great beauty in imperfection and in our relationship with nature and each other. I love things that are crafted by hand, timeworn, weathered and faded. The Australian bush is particularly beautiful to me. Its scribbly, delicate and unruly nature is very evocative and so challenging to capture. I also find great beauty in all the variations and vulnerability of the human form.

What is your Artist superpower?

I have a natural affinity with colour and expressive line. I’m able to invoke the spirit of the bush or coastal regions I visit to translate the magical experience of having all senses stimulated and calmed by time spent in nature.

What does artistic courage mean to you?

To me, artistic courage means risking failure every day in the process of creating and destroying in order to grow. It means creating the work you need to make, even if that is a shift from what others expect of you. It means holding on to your creative practice as something worthy of time and focus when so many internal and external forces can be acting against it.

You can view the artwork of Michele Own at www.micheleowen.com.au and follow her on social media at @micheleowenart. Her best contact details to organise a visit to her studio and purchase enquiries are hello@micheleowen.com.au or 0425821869.

A couple of client/critic quotes or testimonials

“I love Michele’s use of colour and her eye for the landscape. Her paintings take me back to places, I have been and moods I have felt.”

Collector, Marie Howson, Sweden.

“Working with Michele was an absolute delight. She put her heart and soul into my commission, visiting my home to understand my vision, our space and coastal environment, sending me updated photos along the way, and keeping me engaged in the process. I am now the very happy owner of a diptych entitled ‘The Cool Change’, perfectly named by Michele for the beautiful sea breezes that flow through our house in summer when the cool change arrives. There is not a family member, friend or visitor who hasn’t admired ‘The Cool Change’, and I am eternally thankful to Michele for her creativity, passion and enthusiasm that has produced this fabulous artwork for my home.”

Collector, Sandy Mankey, Mornington Peninsula

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‘Into The Sun, Wallaby Rocks’, 2022 by Michele Owen