By Judith Kahn

Artist Michaele Ignon said being surrounded by and engaging with other artists, such as through San Francisco Women Artists (SFWA), exchanging thoughts and techniques, is an experience she counts as an integral part of her personal evolution.

Ignon’s art education is extensive and includes many diverse mediums. On her Pinterest account, she self-describes, “My background is in art, fashion, costuming, set design, fabric design and whatever else I love to do.”

She grew up in the Coachella Valley, about 25 miles from Palm Springs.

“I eventually moved to Santa Barbara for high school. I was there until I was 25, then moved to Los Angeles.”

She attended Los Angeles Trade-Technical College (LATTC). It was there that she attended a two-year fashion design program, followed by a jump into the film industry, working with Robert Altman through his art director.

At a break in her colorful career, in a moment where she was looking around for what was next, Ignon moved to Paris with $800 in her pocket.

“I didn’t come back for 13 years,” she said.

While in Paris, in 1991, she attended AFIDE e-learning providers, where she studied 3D, animation and took some computer classes.

On returning to the U.S., she spent a few years living in Ojai, California to be near her mother. During this time, she attended classes in computer graphics and advertising at Ventura College, learning PageMaker, Illustrator and Photoshop.

“While there, I won two Addy Awards in March of ’97 for brochure and logo design,” Ignon said.

She moved to San Francisco in 2011, where she feels “so at home.” Most recently, she spent two years earning a photography certificate at City College of San Francisco (CCSF). She then spent four years in the CCSF arts program, which included three drawing classes, design, painting 1 and 2, and fabric design, finishing in 2022.

Ignon lives in the Sunset District.

“I have continually taken workshops with favored artists here and around the Bay Area and never ending on line and YouTube classes,” Ignon said. “I just never want to stop learning. I have an endless curiosity for all things creative.”

Ignon’s artwork has been exhibited at SFWA Gallery, where three of her works were recently part of “Embracing Nature,” running through May of this year. She had two pieces in a group show there, “Black, White and Shades in Between,” and another show including her photography in July, called “Reflections.” Of SFWA, she says. “It is my home away from home. Artists don’t thrive without community. I feel so lucky to be included.”

She has also shown her work in The Drawing Room: Clement Street, and just finished the show “Art and Cultures of the World” at the Marin Society of Artists Gallery, where her piece “The Golden Eye” received an honorable mention. Her art has appeared in “Art of the Community” in Benicia, “Fake It,” a group show at Blue Line Arts in Roseville, and “Quiet,” a group show at Gallery Obscura, here in SF.

When drawing, Ignon favors listening to the music of Erik Satie. She also relies on Pandora, the streaming music service where the listener can choose to listen exclusively to a genre or type of music that they like. In her case, she seeks out the music one might hear in a French bistro or cafe. When not actively making art, Ignon enjoys walking around the Golden Gate Park’s Botanical Garden and loves to travel, particularly to Mexico, Paris and Venice.

Ignon hardly knows where to begin on which artists have most informed her work.

Since seeing an exhibit of his work in 1968, Henri Matisse has stood out and inspired her for “his joyful colors and his simplified and lyrical forms,” which always bring her a sense of happiness. Ignon admires Picasso’s work for his prolific and varied styles, which suggest to her “a restless spirit and an endless curiosity,” a sensibility she can relate to.

She likes the work of Ed Moses for the same reason, noting that he was “ever on the move to evolve up until two weeks before his death, working every day.” She admires Gustav Klimt, whom she considers “a true art warrior,” for his elegant use of decorative pattern and rich and sumptuous color and form.

Although working in many mediums and always trying new techniques and experimentation, her most established technique is one where she spends time doing many monoprints, working with stencils, doing varied prints with a gel plate and focusing on specific palettes.

“After about a week, I settle on a design which I draw onto a prepared canvas,” she said. “Then I work with collage papers to create the design I envision and collage them on to the substrate.”

She often adds acrylic paint and sands back into them, creating layers, and sanding again.

To see examples of Ignon’s work, go to the SFWA website, sfwomenartists.org, or look her up on Facebook and Instagram. She can be contacted directly at michaele.ignon@gmail.com.