CURRICULUM VITAE

Born Los Angeles County, California

Artist Statement

Inspired by artists Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock, using color combination abstract lines are the subject. Simple and refined, “Color and Form” gives the middle line meaning, purpose, clarity and focus. The artist creates a lure of light in color — suggesting more than color and light — found in the spiritual that illumines, fills and enlivens.

Tholen’s landscape paintings are inspiration drawn from Northern California and the concepts of JMW Turner — the sustenance of stunning mist-laden rivers, lakes, and waterways infused with atmosphere and a sense of tranquility. Searching for what she loves and trying to capture its essence in pursuit of the abstract and the timeless, the paintings are hopeful in feeling and suggest real and imagined, material and ethereal, familiar and foreign places.

About the Artist

Michelle Tholen is a local artist who grew up in the East Bay and resides in the Oakland Hills. A certified public accountant, she changed her focus from audit and tax to art — self-teaching in pursuit of creativity and now a professional artist for over twenty years, showing at multiple galleries around the Bay Area.

Solo & Group Exhibitions

  • 2024Color & Form, Piedmont Center for the Arts, Piedmont
  • 20235×5, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Santa Barbara
  • 2021East Oakland Collective Fundraiser, Old Crow Tattoo, Oakland
  • 20205×5, Celebrating Ten Years, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Santa Barbara
  • 2020Color & Form, Alexandra Ray Art Consulting, San Francisco
  • 2018Color & Form | Landscapes, Groundswell Art Gallery, Sacramento
  • 2017Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
  • 2017Color & Form, elizabeth charles, San Francisco
  • 2017Color & Form, District, Oakland
  • 2016Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
  • 2016Color & Form, Ruby Livingdesign, Menlo Park
  • 2016Color & Form, District, Oakland
  • 2016On Paper, District, San Francisco
  • 2016Color & Form | Abstract Lines, Gump's, San Francisco
  • 2015Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
  • 2015SBFA Annual Art Trunk Show, Stephanie Breitbard Fine Arts, San Francisco
  • 2015Buddha Faces, Gump's, San Francisco
  • 2015Color & Form, Lumina showcase presented by DZINE, San Francisco
  • 2015Color & Form, Gump's, San Francisco
  • 2015Red Light Lit Book Release Party, Velvet Room, Clift Hotel, San Francisco
  • 2015Grand Opening, Aloft Hotel, Sunnyvale
  • 2014Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
  • 2014Ruby Livingdesign, Mill Valley
  • 2014Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg
  • 2014San Francisco Decorator Showcase, Laura Larkin Study, San Francisco
  • 2014McEvoy Fine Art, Black and White Group Exhibition, San Francisco
  • 2014McEvoy Fine Art, SF Design Center's Third Thursdays Sip and Shop, San Francisco
  • 2013Third Thursdays, McEvoy Fine Art, The Design Center, San Francisco
  • 2012Mitchell Law Group, Privately held exhibition, San Francisco
  • 2012Decade; Celebrating Ten Years of Art by Michelle Tholen, Privately held exhibition, San Francisco
  • 2012The 2012 Leukemia & Lymphoma Benefit, Martin Lawrence Galleries, San Francisco
  • 2012Artopia, SF Weekly Masterminds Grant Finalists, Public Works, San Francisco
  • 2012First Thursday Art Show, McEvoy Fine Art, The Design Center, San Francisco
  • 2011First Thursday Art Show, McEvoy Fine Art, The Design Center, San Francisco
  • 2011Color & Light, District, San Francisco
  • 2011Style de Vie, Maserati of San Francisco, Mill Valley
  • 2011Gump's Presents La Mer Show, San Francisco
  • 2010Color & Light, Coda Jazz Supper Club, San Francisco
  • 2010Art & Wine, BIN38, San Francisco
  • 2010Photography, a Benefit for UNICEF, Taverna Aventine, San Francisco
  • 2010SEX sells… a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
  • 2009Photography, a Benefit for UNICEF, Open Studio, San Francisco
  • 2009Color & Light, Open Studio, San Francisco
  • 2009Woman-owned Business of the Year Awards, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
  • 2009Color & Form, BIN38, San Francisco
  • 2009Art in the Parc, Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco
  • 2009Charcoal Studies Benefiting Earth Island Institute, BIN38, San Francisco
  • 2008Faces of Indonesia, a Benefit to UNICEF, BIN38, San Francisco
  • 2008Color & Light, BIN38, San Francisco
  • 2007Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
  • 2007Color & Light, EO's Restaurant, San Francisco
  • 2006Faces of Indonesia, a Benefit to UNICEF, Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco
  • 2006Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
  • 2005Art for AIDS, San Francisco
  • 2005Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
  • 2005Color & Light, U Street, San Francisco
  • 2005Indonesia Inspired, a Benefit to UNICEF, Privately held, San Francisco
  • 2004Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
  • 2003Color in Abstract, American Industrial Center, San Francisco

Public Collections — Current

  • Saatchi Art
  • Meridian Art

Public Collections — Past

  • Singulart
  • The Artling
  • Bluethumb Art
  • Ruby Livingdesign, Menlo Park, California
  • Martin Showroom, St. Helena, California
  • Ruby Livingdesign, San Francisco, California
  • Groundswell Art Gallery, Sacramento, California
  • Gump's, San Francisco, California
  • Jessie Black, San Francisco, California
  • Hanson Gallery, Sausalito, California
  • Ruby Livingdesign, Berkeley, California
  • Elizabeth Charles, San Francisco, California
  • Ruby Livingdesign, Mill Valley, California
  • Saffron and Genevieve, Santa Cruz, California
  • Stephanie Breitbard Fine Arts, San Francisco, California
  • McEvoy Fine Art, San Francisco, California
  • Roche Bobois, San Francisco, California
  • ParkGate Home, Menlo Park, California
  • Aloft Hotel, Sunnyvale, California
  • Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg, California
  • District, San Francisco, California
  • District, Oakland, California
  • Hang Art at EO's, San Francisco, California
  • Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco, California
  • 111 Minna, San Francisco, California
  • Martin Lawrence Gallery, San Francisco, California
  • Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco, California
  • Sense Fine Art, Atherton, California
  • Busacca Online Gallery
  • Etsy Online Gallery

Select Curated Exhibitions

  • 2013W.Ego Journals. Privately held photography exhibition by Dusan Kochol, San Francisco
  • 2011Japanime… a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
  • 2010Sex Fiction… a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
  • 2010SEX sells… a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco

Publications

  • CanvasRebel Magazine
  • SDVoyager
  • Bold Journey Magazine
  • ShoutOut Social
  • Featured artist at BlueThumb Art
  • San Francisco Times
  • Shoutout SoCal
  • Featured artist at Saatchi Art
  • Featured artist at The Artling
  • California Press
  • Video Interview with Groundswell Art Gallery

Press & Features

  • 2024

    “Variations on a theme — simple, clean form; elegance in color; changing light and perspective; all elements engaging you as you absorb the range of the collection.”

    Piedmont Center for the Arts

  • 2018

    “Tholen departed her first career as an accountant to explore and nurture her creative desires. She is self-taught and has drawn inspiration from modern artists such as Rothko and Pollock to create her own style.”

    Groundswell Art Gallery

  • 2017

    “Featured in "10 San Francisco Artists You Should Know." The clean and balanced composition of Tholen's art reflects on the art of Rothko and Pollock in a style of its own.”

    The Culture Trip — Adriana Jones

  • 2017

    “Reinvent-able spaces explored by themes of memory in relation to nature.”

    Hanson Gallery

  • 2016

    “Featured in "A Dramatic Before and After from Caitlin Flemming and Homepolish."”

    Rue Magazine

  • 2016

    “GALLERY — Architect Craig Steely's Modern Vision Revives a Humble 1908 Edwardian in Bernal Heights.”

    SFC&G Magazine

  • 2016

    “Featured — San Francisco Design Center.”

    3D Magazine

  • 2015

    “Featured artist.”

    LUXE Interiors and Design Magazine

  • 2015

    “Featured artist.”

    California Home & Design and Jonathan Rachman Design

  • 2012

    “Tholen's landscapes are timeless riffs that almost abstract the horizon — a mix between reflection and refraction. That sort of natural light that Michelle Tholen captures in her paintings inspires even as it is presented without sentiment.”

    SF Weekly — Jonathan Curiel

  • 2015

    “Maison Margiela's Opening Party — joined by leading figures in art and design — artist Michelle Tholen.”

    7×7 — Damion Matthews

  • 2012

    “She brings out the ethereal and evokes a sense of place, real or imagined, playing with contrast and emotion without fussing or overworking her pieces.”

    Crown Nine

  • 2011

    “When I learned that she was an accountant before becoming an artist, I was blown away. Her showings absolutely pack a place. Michelle has an incredible following and I can see why. Her art is absolutely stunning.”

    Suzannah Scully

  • 2011

    “Landscape Art by Michelle Tholen.”

    Synchronized Chaos

  • 2011

    “Eight photographers bring sex-charged Japanimation to life in a one-night-only group exhibition curated by Michelle Tholen.”

    RundownSF

  • 2011

    “San Francisco based artist Michelle Tholen's color & form series — just stunning!”

    Hablan de ella

  • 2005

    “Michelle Tholen lines the walls with art reflecting depth, light, peace and mystery.”

    Palosverdesblog

Education & Experience

  • 2000Michelle Tholen, Professional Fine Artist, Oakland, California
  • 1997BS, Accounting, California State University, Hayward
  • 1993Associate in Art, Ohlone College, Fremont, California