Michel Leah Keck. She was born in South Dakota in 1971. Her parents moved to Merrillville,
Indiana when she was just over a year old and she resided there until 1986. She is currently
living and working in Rensselaer, Indiana. Michel is part French, part German, part Irish, and a
little bit of native American.
While Michel has been creating art in various forms throughout her life, it was not until 2003,
after having reversed several serious health conditions, that she started creating her art on a full-
time basis.
Her brush name, The Raw Artist, holds two meanings. Her trademark nickname pertains, in the
most part, to her raw food lifestyle. But her alias, The Raw Artist, has a second meaning as well.
It also refers to the very nature of Michel’s art as she had no formal art training.
Through the international exposure on the internet, The Raw Artist’s work is included in over
900 private and corporate collections throughout the US, Canada, Japan, Australia, New
Zealand, Ireland, Chile, London, France, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Greece, Norway, Malta, and
other European countries.
Internationally driven and emotionally charged, Michel’s works have been described as “dark
yet uplifting simultaneously.” Her works are notoriously difficult to classify as her creative
boundaries appear to be endless. Michel dabbles in a wide variety of styles and mediums. Dark
earthy abstracts, peculiar collage works, recycled junk art, religious spiritual paintings and her
intricate and obsessive circle drawings are just some of the styles you will uncover when you
delve into the world of The Raw Artist.
