Growing up in Michigan Misha lived in a practical world. Although she has many artists in her family she was encouraged to be practical, so she did not do art for much of her childhood. In High school she had to fill in a couple of classes to graduate and took art as a blow off class. But there she discovered that she could draw and create things. That changed everything.
She studied art in community college. Not really with the idea of getting a degree in it, but to see what she could learn. During this time the practical came up again and she took a job drafting pages for car manuals. It was dull and detailed work. In 1991 she decided after a bad version of one of her designs was tattooed on her boyfriend, that she would learn to tattoo. She has been doing tattoos ever since.
At a very young age Misha wanted to move to Japan and live in the shadow of Mt. Fuji. As she grew older she kept being drawn to the art, music and food of Asia. She has studied Middle Eastern mosaics, Hindu Gods, Chinese and Japanese graphic design and Anime. Her art is a fusion of Japanese Anime, Hindu and Buddhist religious imagery and traditional tattoo design. Her favorite subjects to paint are mermaids, pin-ups, geishas, and monsters; preferable a mix of at least two of them at once. She likes the dichotomy of having a monster look cute and sweet. Her paintings and drawings are not based in reality, she creates a world where even monsters are cute and the world is a happy place. Seeing the people not as they are but as cartoon characters.
She also loves doing pop culture art, using old masters paintings and redoing them with one of her big-eyed girls. She has done several variations of the Mona Lisa, The Last supper and Venus rising from the Waves. Part of the pop culture is also video game art, tributes to the old 8-bit era, an interest that was sparked by a group show she was in at Gallery 1988. All of these influences come together to make her big eyed girlies.
She has been showing in galleries on a regular basis since 2001. Currently she is very involved in the LA underground scene.
