Helen Michel

A native of New York City, I moved to Germany in 1991 and lived there for 23 years until I returned to California in 2014.
My art appeared like an Autumn storm in 2007. The first year I produced ca. 75 large format oil paintings. Several solo exhibitions followed. In 2009, one of these, lead to my meeting and working with the renowned etcher, Gerhard Hofmann. He generously offered to teach me the techniques of colored etching, in an intensive work period lasting 6 months.
My work captures the beauty of the moment trapped in the frenetic tempo of our lives. I often juxtapose that natural beauty and the omnipresent, often overlooked, technologic objects.
In my etchings I employ aquatinta and monotype. Three to four plates are used. In one of my works, "Cool Dawn" the plates were printed repetitively, producing a cognate, then secondarily, changing the color sequence and lastly altering the placement and technique of ink application.

Exhibitions:
Solo Exhibitions
"Auslese: Malerei"
Weingut Mathis, Klingenmünster
06.09.2009 - 23.12.2009

"Schau! -1"
04.07.2009 - 02.09.2009
Schau! Fenster-Galerie, Neustadt a.d. Weinstrasse

Altes Rathaus - Eingefangene Bewegungen
('Stop-Motion'): Malerei"
Ortsverwaltung Hambach...

Born in New York City
1976 Bachelor of Arts, Philosophie, CUNY
1976 - 1978 Post-graduate Studies Philosophie, USC, New School for Social Research
1978 - 1991 Medical School, Medical Degree, Postgraduate Medical Studies, Surgery, Plastic Surgery
1997 - 2006 Medical Practice Association, Praxisklinik Michel, Director of Plastic and Recnstructive Surgery, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse

- Since 2007 - Fulltime Freelance Artist

- Resident of Germany from 1991-2014
Repatriation 2014- Resident of Laguna Beach California