Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle McGaughey.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’m originally from Barnstable, MA, and I grew up with a passion for comics, storytelling, nature and history. My sister and I would make comic books that had the most insane stories about our neighborhood friends being abducted by aliens or finding magical irises in the bog behind our house that granted wishes. My parents also kept the house stocked full of crafts and crayons, and making art became my hobby growing up. That passion started picking up steam in high school under my first mentor — John Sullivan. I was fortunate enough to take his animation classes and work with him at the school’s drama club, and I realized that I wanted to pursue animation, illustration, and visual storytelling in college.
I went to Montserrat College of Art in Beverly and got my BFA in Animation and Interactive Media in 2014. The teachers there really opened my eyes to different art styles and helped me hone what kind of stories and themes I cared about, and how to share that passion with an audience. Through discipline, study, and a lot of hard work, I learned that my passion for history, science, and exploration easily translated into the kind of illustrations and animations I wanted to create.
Please tell us about your art.
Right now I’m focused on illustrating using gouache paints. I love painting maps, historic people and subjects/events. My favorite part of the process is the research I do for each piece — I spend hours reading up on a region (if I’m doing a map) or a person’s life and impact on history, so it can inform how I approach the artwork. I try to gain intimate knowledge of my subject matter before I jump into the under drawing, so that the knowledge I’ve gain translates into the painting. My hope is that when people view my artwork, they learn something new or gain a new interest in the subject I’m showing.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
I would say it’s very important to have interests outside of your own artwork– reading, hiking, board games, bird watching, anything that gets you outside of your studio. It can be very easy to get stuck in your own head space when making art, and the only way you can exercise your mind is to bring in new ideas as often as possible. Studying the real world and bringing it back to your artwork is one of the most important things you can do as an artist.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My website michellemcgaughey.com is a great start, it includes links to my social media pages and my Etsy shop. I’m on Facebook and Instagram, the latter I use more often. I’ll also have a gallery show from November-December at Cabot Street Books in Beverly, MA. I’ll have prints, stickers, and coloring books available for sale during those months.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.michellemcgaughey.com/
- Email: studiomcgaughey@gmail.com
- Instagram: michellemcgaughey
Image Credit:
“Endurance and the Reef” 2017
“Galileo” 2017
“Acadia National Park Map” 2017
“Kathryn Sullivan” 2017
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