Michelle Ives is an artist and illustrator living and working in Glasgow, Scotland. Originally from South Africa, she trained in graphic design and illustration before moving to the UK and gaining further qualifications in the field of animation.

Michelle worked for several years as an artist and designer in the publishing industry, predominantly in children’s books, and also as an artist for a games and animation company. Since starting a family  she has freelanced extensively as an illustrator and has more recently returned to painting and printmaking… In 2016 she was shortlisted for the “Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year” competition, and in 2017 was awarded the Small Painting Award at the Paisley Art Institute 129th Annual Exhibition for her painting “wet Intersection”.

Her work is strongly influenced by the landscape near to which she lives (on the outskirts of Glasgow) and the ever changing light and atmosphere of the Scottish weather. She is particularly interested in the underlying structure of the landscape evident in its repeating shapes and patterns and the abstract composition within, as well as the contrast between natural and man-made elements. She has also started exploring figurative themes in her current work.   In 2018, she was once again shortlisted for Sky Arts, this time as a finalist in the “Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year” competition.