Michelle Scarlett

About the Artist

Artist Statement

As a papermaker and printmaker, I draw inspiration from nature, cultural heritage, global events, and the human condition. My creative process begins with charting thoughts and observations in my sketchbooks and journals. I then translate these ideas into print designs and handmade papers, drawing upon my expertise in hand papermaking techniques such as watermarks and color pulp painting.

Through my work, I invite viewers to engage in conversations about the themes that inspire me. My current work explores traditional and contemporary papermaking processes, focusing on how paper structures can create interplays with movement, color, and texture. I’m interested in paper as both a structural and expressive medium.

My sketchbooks are the core of my art practice. The beginnings before the journey into the techniques. My travel companions in every aspect of my life, a place where mistakes are encouraged and explored, and a method of examining my processes. My sketchbooks are where I stretch my imagination and possibilities are endless.
Michelle Scarlett

BIO
Michelle Scarlett, who lives in Baileyville, Maine, is a Down East papermaker whose practice uses sketchbooks and journals to create in the mediums of papermaking, printmaking, and book arts.
Michelle is a University of Maine at Machias Alumni. In 2004, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts Degree with a concentration in Visual Arts. In 2022, Michelle returned to UMM to earn the Certificate in Book Arts within the Creative Arts Program.
In her current work, Michelle is exploring traditional and contemporary papermaking processes and how paper structures can create interplays with movement, color and texture.