MICHELLE MURRAY - BIOGRAPHY & ACHIEVEMENTS: Michelle was born in 1962 in Michigan and raised in Ohio before coming to Alberta as a young adult. She now resides in Edmonton with her husband Sean and their family. She is the mother of 8 and grandmother of 7. After early training in Commercial Art, she began to paint with oils in 2003. Representational oil paintings are Michelle`s passionate focus. In love with oils from the very first brush stroke, she realized the breadth, depth and width of oils is inexhaustible. As Richard Schmid says "it's the queen of all mediums." Using the paint to it's fullest, she uses thin transparent darks and thicker lights to add vibrance to her work. Depicting beauty for Michelle results from a special use of an illuminating light. Color, edges and value help breathe life into the canvas. Figurative Artwork: Michelle's favorite subject matter are primarily women and children because they convey thought, emotion or mood so easily. After studying with Dan Gerhartz, the nuances of painting from life were opened before her. Setting the costuming and the scene, she paints life studies on location and works from life in the studio. It is her aim to portray a simpler time, one that can't be defined. Still Life Artwork: It is Michelle's desire to express the movement of light and richness of color, to capture the magnificence of the ordinary.