One could say Michelle Firment Reid received her art training at a very young age, influenced by the art and culture around her. Born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1968 she spent a well-traveled childhood overseas due to her father's employment. Her mother, an artist at the time, would take Michelle to the Musee du Louvre and the Musee d'Orangerie in Paris on a regular basis.

"I have memories of sitting and staring at Monet's Water Lilies, watching people view his works of art, and in my child mind of eight, wanting to be more than a viewer. I desired to be an artist as well. It was then that I saw how art could affect the viewer, and even make a difference in their lives, if only for a moment."

Even at this young age, Michelle displayed an interest in recreating the world around her by the use of found objects, drawing and painting.

"As a child I would take objects found in nature, such as sticks, leaves, flower petals and rocks and make miniature sculptures out of them. I would then enjoy viewing the process of change by nature's elements or my own hands. I also was fortunate to have art supplies at hand due to my mother's interest in art, therefore much of my free time was spent painting or drawing."

Her family later moved to a suburb of Washington D.C., and it was in this environment where she tuned her creative skills while surrounded by a fine web of art, culture and politics.

Michelle received a BFA in 1991 from The Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC. During her high school and college years she was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency in their Dept. of Science and Technology where she worked in Graphic Design and Disguise. Her experience at the CIA helped generate her interest in global issues as well as refine her artistic skills. While attending Corcoran she participated in a student group collaboration titled "Forgetting", with well-known unconventional and political artist Mel Chin. This interaction with Mel Chin also influenced her art direction. After graduating Michelle apprenticed under D.C. sculptor and artist Joan Danziger. She has since moved to the Midwest where she has resided for several years.

Throughout the past 18 years Michelle's work has included painting, sculpture, poetry, printmaking and photography, a true mixed medium approach.

"Conceptual ideas with the use of paint, photography and mixed media in an expressive manner gives life to my canvases. Layers of paint shape and reshape themselves with the use of texture, line, and color. My interests take me to explore nature, world, and issues which affect us on a daily basis. The intimate exploration of capturing wonder and pain has been a recurring theme throughout my work."