A few miles from Michelle's studio, high upon a hill at Breedon stands the church of St Mary and St Hardulph's. Once a monastery, built in 675, stood on this site. The Breedon Angel, one of the earliest Saxon Angel carvings in the country, has survived and is housed within, carved in sandstone, flanked by flower buds. This sculpture has fascinated Michelle for many years and was the starting point for her icon works, together with the novel ‘Miss Garnet's Angel’ by Salley Vickers featuring the icon of the 'Madonna of Nicopeia'.

Lately Michelle has been further inspired by spiritual and religious iconography, with a residency and an exhibition at Launde Abbey in Rutland for their 900th anniversary in 2019.

 

Michelle's icons have great intensity, their spiritual quality cannot be overlooked.

The icons are made in linen, cotton and silk. They are mainly free machine embroidered with hand stitched details worked intentionally with repurposed fabrics which convey a sense of history, culture and humanity - layer upon layer of appliqués building rich surfaces.