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
- 2024 Color & Form, Piedmont Center for the Arts, Piedmont
- 2023 5×5, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Santa Barbara
- 2021 East Oakland Collective Fundraiser, Old Crow Tattoo, Oakland
- 2020 5×5, Celebrating Ten Years, Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art, Santa Barbara
- 2020 Color & Form, Alexandra Ray Art Consulting, San Francisco
- 2018 Color & Form | Landscapes, Groundswell Art Gallery, Sacramento
- 2017 Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
- 2017 Color & Form, elizabeth charles, San Francisco
- 2017 Color & Form, District, Oakland
- 2016 Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
- 2016 Color & Form, Ruby Livingdesign, Menlo Park
- 2016 Color & Form, District, Oakland
- 2016 On Paper, District, San Francisco
- 2016 Color & Form | Abstract Lines, Gump's, San Francisco
- 2015 Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
- 2015 SBFA Annual Art Trunk Show, Stephanie Breitbard Fine Arts, San Francisco
- 2015 Buddha Faces, Gump's, San Francisco
- 2015 Color & Form, Lumina showcase presented by DZINE, San Francisco
- 2015 Color & Form, Gump's, San Francisco
- 2015 Red Light Lit Book Release Party, Velvet Room, Clift Hotel, San Francisco
- 2015 Grand Opening, Aloft Hotel, Sunnyvale
- 2014 Color & Form, Jessie Black, San Francisco
- 2014 Ruby Livingdesign, Mill Valley
- 2014 Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg
- 2014 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, Laura Larkin Study, San Francisco
- 2014 McEvoy Fine Art, Black and White Group Exhibition, San Francisco
- 2014 McEvoy Fine Art, SF Design Center's Third Thursdays Sip and Shop, San Francisco
- 2013 Third Thursdays, McEvoy Fine Art, The Design Center, San Francisco
- 2012 Mitchell Law Group, Privately held exhibition, San Francisco
- 2012 Decade; Celebrating Ten Years of Art by Michelle Tholen, Privately held exhibition, San Francisco
- 2012 The 2012 Leukemia & Lymphoma Benefit, Martin Lawrence Galleries, San Francisco
- 2012 Artopia, SF Weekly Masterminds Grant Finalists, Public Works, San Francisco
- 2012 First Thursday Art Show, McEvoy Fine Art, The Design Center, San Francisco
- 2011 First Thursday Art Show, McEvoy Fine Art, The Design Center, San Francisco
- 2011 Color & Light, District, San Francisco
- 2011 Style de Vie, Maserati of San Francisco, Mill Valley
- 2011 Gump's Presents La Mer Show, San Francisco
- 2010 Color & Light, Coda Jazz Supper Club, San Francisco
- 2010 Art & Wine, BIN38, San Francisco
- 2010 Photography, a Benefit for UNICEF, Taverna Aventine, San Francisco
- 2010 SEX sells… a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
- 2009 Photography, a Benefit for UNICEF, Open Studio, San Francisco
- 2009 Color & Light, Open Studio, San Francisco
- 2009 Woman-owned Business of the Year Awards, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
- 2009 Color & Form, BIN38, San Francisco
- 2009 Art in the Parc, Parc 55 Hotel, San Francisco
- 2009 Charcoal Studies Benefiting Earth Island Institute, BIN38, San Francisco
- 2008 Faces of Indonesia, a Benefit to UNICEF, BIN38, San Francisco
- 2008 Color & Light, BIN38, San Francisco
- 2007 Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
- 2007 Color & Light, EO's Restaurant, San Francisco
- 2006 Faces of Indonesia, a Benefit to UNICEF, Varnish Fine Art, San Francisco
- 2006 Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
- 2005 Art for AIDS, San Francisco
- 2005 Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
- 2005 Color & Light, U Street, San Francisco
- 2005 Indonesia Inspired, a Benefit to UNICEF, Privately held, San Francisco
- 2004 Color & Light, Privately held, San Francisco
- 2003 Color 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
- 2013 W.Ego Journals. Privately held photography exhibition by Dusan Kochol, San Francisco
- 2011 Japanime… a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
- 2010 Sex Fiction… a photography exhibition, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco
- 2010 SEX 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
- 2000 Michelle Tholen, Professional Fine Artist, Oakland, California
- 1997 BS, Accounting, California State University, Hayward
- 1993 Associate in Art, Ohlone College, Fremont, California