Today we’d like to introduce you to Britt Michaelian.
Hi Britt, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My first art show – in a true gallery – was in Chicago, 1996. I was 22 and in my senior year in the BFA program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I had one piece on exhibit in a group show. And I was thrilled. Wood rods framed the top and bottom of the 72” x 48” canvas, creating a scroll, with acrylic-painted dancing shadows across a deep eggplant-colored background. The foreground revealed green, glowing, ghostlike faces of people I knew, only slightly altered enough so as not to ruffle any feathers. The piece was about playing with the concepts of depth and layering, visually and metaphorically. Looking back now, it’s easy to understand why artists need time and experience to mature!
Next up was San Francisco. While I was in grad school, getting my Masters in Art Therapy and Marriage and Family Therapy, my art was on display at LIMN. Four framed pieces alternated between the gallery and the Ligne Roset showroom. I was over the moon to have my art in such a cool space. When I wasn’t painting or going to school, I was taking care of our growing family and getting certified in Expressive Arts Therapy in the hospital setting, through the Institute for Health and Healing at California Pacific Medical Center.
Then, a wonderful art agent found me. Karen Johnston. Lovely gal. She got my art into Stricoff Fine Art in NYC and Cannonball Fine Art in San Anselmo, CA, amongst a sprinkling of other galleries in the US. Around this time, I was approached by Self Magazine to show my work at their luxury lounge at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. After that, Kana Manglapus, former director of Milk Studios in NYC, opened a showroom in LA and exhibited a selection of my small-scale canvases. My art was developing a decent following. I had collectors in the US, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia.
And then a family health emergency called.
And a couple of the galleries with my art closed.
And I ended up getting 75 pieces returned at once.
And we were about to move from SF to So Cal.
So, I recalled the rest of my work and held a private show. Twenty percent of the sales were donated to a charity that supports children with autism and to the SF food bank. I sold all but two pieces that night. And promptly took a nine years break from painting.
I always knew I would return to painting, but it had to be the right time, so my art could be more of service than ever before. I started painting again in response to another family health emergency. The thing that inspired me to begin making art for exhibition again was that I could infuse reiki healing energy and powdered ancient healing stones into the art, giving it the ability to raise the energetic frequency of the people, pets, plants, and places where it exists. I am an Usui Reiki Master and am trained in and a practitioner of a variety of other healing techniques, so creating art that transmits healing was the next logical step for me on this journey.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
How long do we have? Haha! Just kidding. I’ve been extremely fortunate in my career as an artist and for that I’m grateful. I was blessed to have been able to attend some incredible schools to study art. But mine wasn’t meant to be a straight path where I started and graduated from the same school, which might have aggravated my parents a lot, but I was happy to keep feeling my way along the path. It was important for me to shuffle the deck a few times in order to find where I could thrive as an art student, which ended up being in Chicago. Each step along the way was about learning. And each step mattered in the bigger picture. As with everything in life.
Once I graduated with my BFA, my biggest struggle was that I doubted myself as an artist. If you would have asked me as a child what I wanted to do when I grew up, my answer would have certainly been some form of art. But somehow when I met the real world, I doubted my art could make as big of an impact as I wanted it to. I distracted myself with lots of cool opportunities and businesses. Then, when my sister got cancer and I was studying and practicing energy healing, it all came together. Art + wellness. Now, my art could be of service to the world. However, a new struggle was before me. My sister was dying.
In the last few months of her life, I spent one week a month at least taking care of my sister. And when I returned home, I painted and worked with quantum healing clients. It wasn’t until my sister passed that I began work on The Peace Within, my first collection of high-vibration healing frequency art.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Healing is as much a part of my business and art as it is a part of me. The clients I work with experience noticeable shifts in their mental, emotional, and physical bodies. The art I create is sacred. It reminds viewers to focus on their healing journey in a passive way by simply existing, and in an active way though the healing mantra titles of each piece. My specialty is co-creating a reality where we all can heal and lift our spirits to new heights. I had conceived of this idea in my mind and it took about two years for it to materialize, but I’ve seen firsthand that when you provide the space for massive healing through intentional co-creation, it happens.
About a year before my sister passed, I went on a quantum healing workshop retreat in the San Bernardino Mountains and had a vision of something called Healing House. Instead of showing my art in galleries, I would exhibit my work once a year at this event. It would be a multidimensional prayer, including color, light, and sound. A sound bath. Healing frequency music. Ancient stone medicine and reiki healing to balance energy. A disco dance party. High-vibration foods. Love. Finished with a gratitude tea ceremony. Every sip, think of something you’re grateful for. Thank you.
On January 22, 2023, at Seven Degrees Gallery in Laguna Beach, Healing House arrived. It was one of the most beautiful events I’ve ever been to. Like the wedding of a couple that radiates absolute truth. The marriage of wellness and art. It was truly a co-created space of love and healing. Smiles were brighter that day. Hugs were plentiful and genuine. Laughter was welcomed with ease and delight. The Peace Within was felt by all.
It is an honor to walk beside clients who are on the healing path. Whether looking for guidance on your own spiritual journey or if you’d like to connect with your higher self and get clarity on your life purpose through a quantum healing hypnosis session, services can be booked on my website at brittmichaelian.com/healing The remaining artwork from the Peace Within Collection is available for purchase at brittmichaelian.com/store.
Moving forward, I’m working with healthcare institutions to place my healing art where it can best serve the community – in hospitals, hospices, rehabs, and wellness facilities. Each painting carries the vibration of a quantum healing session for as long as the piece exists, which can be highly beneficial in exam rooms, treatment rooms, waiting rooms, board rooms, and lobbies. In addition to raising frequencies through my art, I’m excited to provide private Healing House inspired events for patients of institutions that purchase my work.
Healing House will be an annual invitation-only event for subscribers on my website and will take place in the beginning of 2024. For anyone interested in gathering more healing tools, subscribe to receive a free download of the guided healing visualization from Healing House on the home page at brittmichaelian.com
Who else deserves credit in your story?
I’d have to say my biggest cheerleaders are my husband and daughters, closely followed by my amazing friends. I am so grateful for my dear friends that include people from childhood, high school, college, family friends from SF, LA, Chicago, OC, and beyond. It is such an honor to have inspiring souls like my friend Lisa Bhathal Merage (who is on the board of the Orange County Museum of Art) who believe in my work and share it with others who appreciate what I’m doing.
I also have to mention… for years, our family has practiced yoga at a studio with an incredible community, Ekam Yoga in Newport Beach. So many of the teachers and students in the classes have become close friends. Many are mentors as well. It is a tremendous blessing to be able to walk into a yoga class and feel instantly at home and supported. A huge number of the people who attended Healing House were both teachers and students from Ekam. They helped spread the word and invited people in the community who they felt needed healing, or were art collectors, or who would appreciate the experience of art + wellness. I was in awe of their generosity.
When I use the term co-creation to describe my art, I believe it has everything to do with giving viewers, supporters and participants credit for being open to grow and heal together. My work is the invitation, their engagement is the co-creation. We have all gone through and continue to grow through an intense period of history and when we can get together and support one another, sharing tools and talents, and just being present with one another, our hearts are elevated. This is how humanity benefits. This is how we heal.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://brittmichaelian.com
- Twitter: twitter.com/brittmichaelian
- Youtube: youtube.com/brittmichaelian
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/brittmichaelian
Image Credits
Jason Mintzer Photography
