Rainbows, Puppies & Plants

Inspire Michelle‘s Vibrant Art

Shanelle Schick

A few weeks back I reached out to Michelle Taranto of Arco Iris Interiors having watched some of her recent art journey through the lens of Instagram and feeling an immediate connection with her vibrant, colourful art.

Looking at Michelle’s art, you can’t help but feel happy. Meeting with Michelle in person you can’t help feeling like the most colourful, brilliant rainbow just walked into the room and gave you the most amazing bear hug ever We spent quite a length of time chatting about all things life, relationships

Arco Iris is Spanish for rainbow and Michelle absolutely emanates a rainbow from all aspects – her personality, her art, her passion for life and the way that she chooses to show up and make an impact on the world around her.

2023 brought many successes to the self-taught artist including her first and solo exhibition at local Fig Tree Art Gallery entitled “Happy at Home” and winning her first art prize at the Martin Hanson Memorial Arts Awards in Gladstone. Her work “Eyes on the Prize” is one of many local pieces at the current Summer in Capricorn exhibition at the Fig Tree Gallery which is running until 30th January.

The piece that won Michelle her Martin Hanson Memorial Arts Award was her self-portrait “Modern Mother” inspired by Frida Kahlo It was meant to be the centrepiece of her solo exhibition, however when she saw the awards were coming up and that all artists were eligible to enter, she made the choice to enter her focal piece into the awards even though it was not yet complete. “It felt like a backwards journey. I kind of created the art over a couple of months and then it wasn’t until the artwork was all coming together” Michelle says.

Michelle has made a conscious choice to not have human children and has instead surrounded herself with her fur-children and plant babies. Her self-portrait is a reflection of these choices. Choices that may seem controversial to some, yet it is what suits Michelle and her needs. She is passionate about the fact that not everyone needs to reproduce and that we need to take the pressure off women feeling like they must fulfill traditional roles

Those who have seen Michelle’s art in real life are full often positive and uplifting comments for her works. Some say the just feel the joy and can’t wipe the smile off their faces.

Head on over to Michelle’s social media pages @arcoirisinteriors to follow along with her artistic journey