Michele Pollock Studio

 I combine my love of paper and stitching to express my fascination with the natural world and the difficult subjects of illness and grief. I machine quilt paper, then add hand embroidery, beading and sculptural paper elements to create two- and three-dimensional artworks that explore the often unseen world around us. 

I walk and sit often in the woods around my home, photographing the forest, especially the mushrooms, mosses and lichens, native plants and insects that make themselves known to us when we take the time to stop and look. These photos are the basis of the artwork I create, whether I am hand embroidering directly into the photographs or using them to create patterns and designs for my stitched paper artwork.

I hold a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University, and spent a decade doing research at 3M. I received my MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University. As a visual artist, I was trained at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts and rely on many traditional techniques from quilting and bookbinding, but I am also constantly inventing new ways of combining paper and stitching in her studio. 

My poetry and woods journaling are the inspiration for, or find their way into, my visual artwork.

My work is a juried part of Indiana Artisan. I was the recipient of two individual artist grants from the Indiana Arts Commission. I have participated in numerous juried art fairs and exhibitions. I have published two books, Field Guide to the Art of Looking and Fallen-log-ology, which feature my forest floor photography alongside original poetry and essays. 

Since 2008 I have worked out of Lost Lake Studio, my home studio in the woods of Brown County, Indiana.