Michelle Moore is an American artist and surface designer who was born and raised in New York's Hudson Valley region. She has always had a natural affinity for the outdoors, having grown up in the heart of the Catskill Mountains. Michelle appreciates living in a region with four distinct seasons of natural beauty to explore because this way she gets inspiration to create her astounding botanical art pieces.
Elevating the Ordinary With Michelle Moore Designs
Think flower delivery but for your closet and interior spaces... Michelle Moore Designs steps in and takes action to elevate your clothes and home pieces by adding pressed flowers and dyed designs. Michelle is drawn to the worn and weathered, the funky and vibrant, and everything in between.
She is drawn to nature and all of its beautiful flaws. She finds inspiration in everything from a small leaf patterned by a hungry bug to a perfectly broken seashell washed up on the beach. The botanical artist is also inspired by browsing local consignment shops and spending the day wandering the colorful streets of Woodstock, New York.
Moore spends as much time as she can working with her surroundings. She uses fresh flowers from her garden in natural dyes, eco prints, and cyanotypes. On the other hand, she thoroughly enjoys the exploratory character and essence of working with nature. Michelle enjoys creating one-of-a-kind textiles and transforming thrift store finds into new and exciting pieces.
Bundle dyeing is the art of extracting color from natural ingredients to create patterns and texture on fabric. This means simply applying dyestuff onto pre-treated fabric before rolling or folding that fabric tightly and steaming it for an hour or two. The outcome? A beautiful arrangement of colors that will vary greatly based on the ingredients you choose, with pressed flowers coming afterward to give the pieces the final touches.
Michelle says:
"I love that the result is always different, always unique, and always a bit magical. You can try this process with anything - from leftover floral arrangements to kitchen waste, garden flowers, or foraged items. As such, that variety of ingredients will mean that some colors may have strong fastness and others a light one, or none at all (fastness is simply the longevity of the color after exposure to light, washing, or wear). This is all experimental and your understanding will grow as you try different botanicals, and dive deeper into your art."
A Colorful and Joyful Art Style to Boost Happiness in People
What is Michelle's main purpose in life at the moment? It's rather simple. Making everyone she can very happy and ecstatic through her works of art, ones specializing in small-batch, botanically dyed, lifestyle accessories that elevate the ordinary. She wants to boost everyone's lives with the addition of gorgeous botanical accessories that can be used as clothes or even as indoor decoration. Even for Christmas for example, she has created hand-crafted ornaments and gift tags that feature pressed flowers. If you're an all-time fan of flowers, these ornaments will without a doubt be the perfect addition to your Xmas tree this year.
Through her finesse in what she does, she was also part of a huge collaboration with the brand 'Free People' with a very successful outcome and thousands of people loving what she did and sold while the collaboration lasted. Socks, bandanas, and even a dyeing kit made part of this partnership. There's one thing that cannot be denied: people LOVE everything that has flowers in them, from clothes to accessories and decor, Michelle knows how to do it right when it comes to botanical art.
The Hammered Flower - Workshop by Michelle Moore Designs
The Hammered Flower workshop was inspired by Michelle's love for nature, and flowers, and the desire to combine two very different types of art: ephemeral and digital. The fleeting and the eternal. She strives to make one-of-a-kind textiles in small batches that have a low environmental impact and will become a loved and cherished piece that people will enjoy for many years.
"It's a bit like coloring, but with flowers on fabric. The Hammered Flower is a great activity for everyone. It's simple, and fun, and the outcome is a beautiful wearable/usable piece of art. It's also a great way to relieve a little stress while making something special for yourself or as a gift."
The Hammered Flower is a textile collection made up of shirts, tote bags, pouches, patches, and other items that have been pre-treated to accept natural dyes and hammered (Tataki Zome) flowers and leaves. She's also created hand-drawn artwork that will inspire your creativity. The best thing is that you can choose a piece that has been finished by Michelle or you can choose a piece that you can finish with your own flowers, leaves, and hammer.
More About Michelle Moore
Michelle is a graduate of the Textile + Surface Design program from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, as well as the Fine Art program at SUNY Ulster, where she teaches in the Fine Art Department. She is focused on helping inspire the future of the textile industry through the use of slower, more thoughtful, and creative processes. If you're keen to see more of her work and future collaborations, visit Michelle Moore Designs.
All photos are by Michelle Moore Designs.
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