​Michelle Thomas—abstract artist and founder of Studio Bad Ass Old Gal—is committed to creating an environment where art collecting feels approachable, helping collectors engage with art comfortably and confidently, free from the intimidation that often surrounds art and collecting. Guided by the belief that meaningful art should be accessible, empowering, and relatable, SBAOG lives by one creed: All you need to engage with art is curiosity.

 

If that belief resonates with you, below are ways to start your collecting journey:

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​About Michelle:

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Growing up in an environment marked by abuse, neglect, and emotional instability, Michelle spent much of her early life learning how to stay small. Today, her work does the opposite. Through saturated color, curvilinear forms, and expressive looping gestures, her paintings assert presence, strength, and emotional freedom. 

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Michelle earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Art Institutes and today is known for abstract paintings  that are deeply intuitive and embodied. Her paintings emerge from instinct and emotion —often centered on themes of strength, growth, resilience, and self-love. Themes that are lived necessities shaped by a past that demanded resilience long before it allowed tenderness, acceptance, or care.

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At its core, Michelle’s work explores empowerment, self-love, and human revolution—the inner transformation through which one comes to fully inhabit their highest and most authentic self. By transforming lived experience into bold, emotionally intelligent abstract paintings, Michelle invites collectors, designers, and first-time buyers alike to see themselves reflected—not as survivors shrinking into space, but as whole beings standing firmly within it.

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Michelle’s work has been featured in Canvas Rebel, shown at Spotlight on Art—Atlanta’s premier art benefit, and exhibited widely, including a solo exhibition at South Fulton Arts along with several major Atlanta showcases. These milestones reflect her growing presence within the contemporary art landscape.