Michelle is from Colorado and currently resides in Littleton. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2D Animation and Illustration. Michelle is a Denver-based freelance illustrator, writer, photographer and full time educator. While earning her BFA in Illustration and 2D Animation, she worked with a local animation studio to develop a feature film script and episode content for an animated children’s IP. After graduation, she immersed herself in the marketing field, working with multiple Colorado franchises expanding with new locations across the country to develop materials for their brands including websites, training, marketing materials, logos and social media. Michelle developed storyboards for client pitches, edited video content for promotions and wrote and edited content for blogs, commercials and press releases. She also created brand-standard training courses and videos for her book of small businesses.
She has been an instructor in the Animation and Game Art Department at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design since 2016, teaching digital painting, storyboarding, storytelling, sound design and video editing. Her teaching philosophy focuses on always evolving adaptability to her students’ needs, providing clear communication and a dedication for allowing students the space to refine their skills to suit their individual creative paths, while providing them with constructive feedback to improve their visual storytelling. Her favorite part of teaching at RMCAD is working with students to incorporate storytelling into their work, whether that be through character designs, compositions, illustrations or animatics.
When Michelle isn’t teaching, she owns her own photography business, Iron Image Productions, serving the Denver area and beyond. She also runs a bi-weekly writer’s group, where she reviews and provides feedback for both prospective and published author’s upcoming novels.
Recent Exhibitions, Significant Work, or Publications:
Michelle was a Lead Designer at MadWire Media in Fort Collins, Colorado, where her team of designers created weekly content for a book of over 80 clients. Her team won “Marketing Team Team of the Year” in 2017. She has been interviewed by Canvas Rebel, Voyage Denver, and Shoutout Colorado.
Course Credentialing
AG 1070 – Digital Painting for Film + Games (formerly AN 2270 – Digital Painting for Film + Games), AG 1110 – Introduction to Animated Storytelling (formerly AN 1110 – Introduction to Animated Storytelling), AG 2300 – Animation + Game Art Sophomore Portfolio Review, AG 3131 – Business Ethics + Copyright, AG 3590 – Special Topics, AG 4990 – Senior Project I: Portfolio Preparation, AG 4991 – Senior Project II: Portfolio Delivery + Review, AN 2310 – Creative Visualization, AN 2320 – The Art of Villainy, AN 2335 – Worldbuilding, AN 2350 – Scriptwriting for Animation, AN 3601 – Animation Internship Part I, AN 3602 – Animation Internship Part II, AN 3770 – Animation Sound Design + Video Editing
