Featured Artist

Michelle Jackson

Michelle has always been surrounded by art. Her mother was an art teacher who taught art in a public school in a small town in Nebraska K through 12. She and her sister were able to work on the projects from every grade as her mother prepared for each class.  She remembers as a young child placing two pieces of colored construction paper next to each other and just being joyous about the feeling and interaction those two colors created. This early exposure fostered a deep love for color—a passion that remains central to her work today. 

Shadow Dance - Lower Rio Grand Public Water Works Authority

Michelle began sewing at a young age, then creating her own original clothing throughout high school. Her professional path was solidified after a chance meeting with a Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) student who led her to fashion design. She says she never gave it much thought that there were people behind the garments we buy in the store. Even today, she does not keep up with designers and names. She just knows what she likes and knows she can make it. After graduating from FIT, she began a career designing women’s lingerie in NYC. This background in fashion design provided her with a strong foundation in form, structure, and three-dimensional manufacturing.

Old Pecos Cabin -  Private collection Colorado

After moving to New Mexico, Michelle designed quilted jacket patterns and taught people how to make them. Craving more originality and creativity, she transitioned from jacket patterns to creating original art quilts. As an artist working in fiber, she incorporates unusual fabrics, paint, dye, and recycled items into her pieces. She is particularly inspired by the "graceful decay" of historic New Mexico adobes and seeks to capture their beauty and mystery through vibrant, evocative colors.

Jemes - McKinnon Center at the University of New Mexico

In addition to her landscape work, Michelle specializes in fiber portraiture. She teaches this challenging medium nationally. She says portraiture is probably the hardest thing to teach and to learn. First there are high expectations and generally low confidence. Portraiture requires a high level of observation and adherence to detail as faces are so distinctive. She enjoys the challenge and rejoices in the successes of her students.

Romancing Red - unavailable
Denim Fashion Piece - Renaissance Hotel Midtown New York City, 218 West 35th Street

Michelle believes it’s important to surround oneself with talented humble people to learn and grow with the right attitude to be able to help others succeed artistically. Listening to others about how they create and what they are thinking throughout the process is really intriguing to her. There is something beautiful and mysterious about how the creative mind works that inspires her to listen, ask questions and learn.

Michelle works out of her home studio—a renovated two car garage in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico—accompanied by her dogs and the sounds of jazz or Spanish guitar. Her award-winning designs are featured in public and corporate collections across the country. 


Sista - available
May I Have This Dance - available
Logan - the Parker private collection 
I AM the Face of Rescue - Private collection Boson Mass