With artwork currently traveling to seven museums in Norway, and a solo exhibition to begin touring major museums in Europe and Asia from 2007 to 2011, Michael Connell exhibits using her middle name, “Michael Wood”. Her upcoming solo exhibit includes paintings in oil, watercolor, and acrylic, drawings in graphite and pastel, photography, sculpture and mixed media.
Born in New York of Southern parents, Michael was a happy nomad. Her early childhood as a Navy junior even included a residency aboard a commissioned Navy troop carrier in the Pacific – she credits this with her love of any ocean, travel, and appreciation of things different and new.
Michael considers herself honored to work with enthusiastic and gifted people. She teaches art in The Art Station – Big Shanty (Cobb County), The Kennesaw Parks and Recreation Center (City of Kennesaw) and The Chinese Academy in Marietta, Georgia. Michael also draws energy and creativity from instructors and students involved in the area art programs. She’s very happy to have her very first home here in Georgia.
Michael’s training includes degrees in drawing/painting/music and sculpture/metalsmithing. Alma maters of Stephens College, University of Michigan, Peabody Conservatory of Music, Johns Hopkins and Wayne State University offered her a diverse education with masters in each discipline. Michael credits specialized training courses at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Center for Creative Studies and instructors Mary Lee Hu (University of Washington) and Onno Boukhoudt (The Gerrit Rieveld Academy in Amsterdam) with giving her a multi-faceted perspective and wonderful exposure to contemporary art as well as the techniques of the old masters. Her most treasured professors, Philip Fike (Metalsmithing) and Bernard Goldman (Ancient Near Eastern art) remain active influences in her concepts and thinking. She is currently working on a book for the Leonardo Journal of M.I.T. Press, illustrating the migration patterns of nomads by study of the animal symbols used in the art.