As a small child, like most, I was often found doodling. if I was talking on the phone, watching cartoons, or sitting in class listening to the teachers I was usually doodling. In the 1990's, when I was suffering from intense migraines, I noticed that I was doodling far more frequently and always with circles. Something about creating the circular shape had a calming affect on me.
In 2004 I was blessed with a studio visit from Tom Torluemke, a ridiculously talented artist and his lovely wife and managing partner Linda Dorman. It was not until I saw their responses to my circle drawings that I ever personally viewed my 'doodles' as artwork. For me they had been a mere coping mechanism but to see how others viewed them had an impact on me.
In 2008 when I published an artbook on some of my works I asked Linda if she would mind sharing a few words about me and my artwork, and she graciously obliged...
"I was first introduced into the world of Michel Keck four years ago when I was hearing about this extremely prolific and successful artist on eBay called The Raw Artist. Intriqued, I looked at the work. What I saw was a lovely blending of color and energy and lots of both. But frankly, what impressed me most was her ability to create a persona and name for herself outside of the traditional “fine art” confines. She had built up a following for her work in an amazing, well-manufactured, promotional and marketing strategy. To discover an artist who was “making it” without the blessing of museum curators and gallery owners was refreshing and part of what makes her and her work special. People all over the world were fighting for her latest pieces in that online auction setting. To some, buying art online may not be the most glamorous way to collect art but doing this, she made her work collected all over the world. This is where she started and it has taken her far.
A self-taught artist, Keck has an instinctive ability to use color, texture and space to seduce the viewer. However, her very early pencil drawings, brought about by an illness she suffered, are some of my favorites. They are obsessively drawn, abstract and exquisite in their ability to illustrate her frustration and longing for relief. These seminal works brought about the birth of “The Raw Artist”.
Over the years her work has grown as she has exposed herself to other art and artists in the outside world, but she keeps the work her own, filled with that energy and life from those early years. The mystic of Michel Keck continues on and the work keeps coming, from that overflowing reservoir of a love of life, people and God."
Linda Dorman - Managing Partner
Tom Torluemke Studio: http://tomtorluemke.com/
