Artist Statement:

I prefer to paint outdoors directly on site. I feel that it is the best way to capture the immediacy of the moment. It allows me to immerse myself in the subject. I am not the typical plein air landscape painter in that I enjoy capturing social situations and views of the urban landscape. Whether standing next to a busy café, an isolated landscape or inside a jazz club, I know that it is not just the visual information that becomes a part of the painting. The sounds, the smells, the mood and the environment all become integral to the finished image. My plein air paintings are meant to be mirrors of our lives. There is something magical and mystical about standing with your feet firmly planted on the earth, absorbing all the sounds, smells and conversations as well as the visual information and letting it all flow out onto the canvas. I become a part of the scene and the paintings seem to flow out of me. 

“Painting plein air allows me to create a more fluid diary of the ever-changing activity of a café or street scene.”

 Biography:

    Michele Byrne received a B.F.A. from Kutztown University and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After working 20 years in graphic design, she turned to full time painting in 2001 and began plein air painting in 2006.

    Michele is an impressionistic artist known for her bold, colorful palette knife work. She often explores the theme The Art of Conversation, painting cafés, street scenes, musicians, or any social situation where people gather to converse. She has won numerous awards in her plein air and studio work and was featured on the January 2020 cover of PleinAir Magazine with an eight-page article titled “Adventures with a Palette Knife.”

    Byrne moved to Santa Fe, NM in 2020 and now incorporates her bold colors and knife techniques into the Southwest colors of street scenes and landscapes.

    PaintTubeTV has released three instructional videos of Michele’s palette knife techniques. The most recent one is titled PALETTE KNIFE CITYSCAPES. 

    She exhibits her work at Legends of the West Fine Art in Santa Fe, Reinert Fine Art in Charleston, SC and James R. Ross Fine Art in Indianapolis, IN.

     Michele is proud to be an Artist Ambassador for Royal Talens North America and is a popular instructor who teaches workshops in-person and online.

Michele teaches workshops in her new studio in Santa Fe. She also travels to be teach in Florida, Hudson River Valley, NY and France and Italy.

She currently is offering Mentorships and has online recorded classes.