Michmashartstache | Calm Musings to Help You Unwind

In this calming episode of The Insomnia Project, Marco Timpano welcomes back friend of the podcast and artist Michelle Miracle, joining from Santa Clarita, California. The two settle into a gentle, meandering conversation about Michelle’s creative work, the inspiration behind her art, and the quiet joy that comes from making and sharing beautiful things.
Marco and Michelle spend time exploring Michelle’s distinctive artistic style and the thoughtful process behind her work. As they discuss creativity, artistic inspiration, and the small details that shape a piece of art, the conversation unfolds slowly and naturally—perfect for listeners who enjoy soft-spoken dialogue and calm, reflective moments.
Adding to the peaceful atmosphere of the episode, the faint sound of a passing train can occasionally be heard in the background, creating an unexpected layer of ambient sound that blends beautifully with the relaxed pace of the conversation. The result is an episode that feels both intimate and unhurried, like listening in on a quiet conversation between friends.
As always, The Insomnia Project offers calm, mundane conversation designed to help quiet racing thoughts and gently guide listeners toward rest. Whether you're listening at bedtime, during a middle-of-the-night wake-up, or simply looking for relaxing background listening while you work or unwind, this episode provides a peaceful listening experience.
You can also enjoy ad-free episodes of The Insomnia Project with a free trial at theinsomniaproject.supercast.com.
Learn more about Michelle’s artwork and follow her creative journey:
Instagram: Michmashartstache
Website: michellemiracle.com
Stay connected with The Insomnia Project:
Instagram: @theinsomniaproject
Twitter/X: @listenandsleep
Website: theinsomniaproject.com
Patreon: patreon.com/theinsomniaproject

​Michmashartstache

(Original airdate: April 13, 2023)

 Welcome to the Insomnia Project. Sit back, relax and listen as we have a calm conversation about mundane things to help you sort of find your way to a place that might bring you to sleep. We, uh, don't guarantee, but we certainly have a lot of people who say that our. Our podcast helps them with that. And if it helps you, please let your friends know the more the merrier here on the Insomnia Project. Speaking of the more the merrier, I'm going to welcome a dear friend of mine who's been on the podcast before, who has the coolest name of anyone I know. Welcome Michelle Miracle to the Insomnia Project.

Michelle Miracle: Hello. Thank you for having me, Marco. It is always a pleasure to see your face and hear your voice. And, uh, thanks for having me.

Marco:  Thank you. And you're coming to us from Santa Clarita, California?

Michelle Miracle: Yes. It is just north of la. It is in a part of LA that has, um, parks and trees and birds and parking.

Marco:  Oh, because LA doesn't have parking. Right. You have to valet everywhere, right?

Michelle Miracle: Yeah.

Marco:  How much is a valet in Los Angeles?

Michelle Miracle: It depends on the night or the venue, but it's probably between 10 and $50.

Marco:  Ouch. Okay, so it's nothing to snark at, that's for sure. So anyone listening who gets free parking in their town or, uh, you know, city, consider yourself lucky, because you can't. You can't go anywhere here in the city either without spending at least $10 in parking.

Michelle Miracle: Yeah. And that's when you are.

Marco:  That's when you're like, oh, it was only $10, right, those days. But anyways, let's talk about. All right, so a couple things I want to talk about. I know Michelle because she is a fantastic actor, performer, writer, comedian. We did comedy all over the high seas for Second City on cruise ships. That's how I got to know you.

Michelle Miracle: Had a lot of fun.

Marco:  So much fun. So much fun. But, Michelle, now you're diving into another artistic endeavor and. And I want to talk about that because, A, I really, really dig your art. And I know I sound like somebody from the 70s, but I dig it really, really much. It's so groovy.

Michelle Miracle: Thank you. That's so sweet of you. Um, well, I just want to say I am still an actor. I'm not giving that up. I'm still a performer. But I. I had kind of, um, not a midlife crisis, but a crisis of career crisis last year, and I was out of work and just kind of restless, and I noticed that I was just afraid to try anything new. And so I thought, well, I'm going to just buy some paints and play around with watercolors. So I did that and I realized that I was really enjoying it. And so it just kind of snowballed from there, and it became this whole Thing of, um, helping me through my perfectionism, because as an actor, you know, you're always constantly, like, waiting for the opportunity to do that to. To get to act. But with art, I was able to just, like, do it and be terrible and keep failing and keep failing and get a little better each day. And so it really has helped me to work on my, like, my perfectionism and my growth mindset and my just, um, the negative voices in my head. So, uh, it's been really kind of transformative for me and really joyful. So I'm. I'm having a lot of fun. And then it just kind of turned into a business.

Marco:  It's so funny. Miracle. Uh, and, folks, I will probably call Michelle by her last name, which is Miracle. Once again, the coolest name.

Michelle Miracle: Um, I had nothing to do with it.

Marco:  Well, you wear it well, shall we say? Um, it's interesting you say that, Michelle, because for me, I got into podcasting the same sort of way where it's like, I'm an actor, but there was some downtime in my acting, and I was like, I need to do something to feed me creatively. And so I got into podcasting. And likewise, you got into just picking it up just to do the art, the watercolor. And then it sort of became the journey brought you to actually making prints and people buying them. But before we get there, I want to ask you, why watercolors?

Michelle Miracle: I think they were the least intimidating. Like, I've never been. I guess I drew as a kid. Like, I found some paintings that I sent a boy that I had a crush on. And, um, you know, they were terrible when I was, like, 13 or 14. But I wasn't a very artistic person ever. I could not draw. If somebody said draw a flower, it would just look like a doodle, you know, on the side of your note paper. But. But, um. So I wanted something that could be kind of very accessible and inexpensive in case I hated it. And, you know, a lot of other artwork or materials mediums are, you know, more expensive to kind of try. So, um, I just bought a very cheap set of paints and a very cheap set of brushes. And then from there, of course, I spent a lot more money once I figured it out. Sure, sure.

Marco:  Of course, it's, uh. There's always an initial expense, too, when you get into an endeavor like this.

Michelle Miracle: Right.

Marco:  But then once you have the material that you need, it's there, and you can continue to use your watercolors. For example, is there a color that you go to more than others? Good.

Michelle Miracle: M. Question.

Marco:  Thank you.

Michelle Miracle: I think I like. See, I don't even know that much about color because I didn't go to art school, but I don't usually. I usually go towards cooler colors, like blues and greens. Um, I don't even know if those are technically cool colors, but I don't like. I don't use as much of, like, reds and yellows and oranges, but, um. But, yeah, I use all the colors, but I tend to paint a lot of blues and greens.

Marco:  It's so great. Now you've done something really unique with your artwork. And for our listeners who might be interested in seeing your artwork, I'm going to just say a couple of things, a couple of websites so that they can go to them. But don't worry, folks, you can always look on our show Notes, um, for more information. But if you go to michellemiracle.com and then click the tab that says art, you'll see Michelle's artwork, but you'll also see other artistic things that you've been doing. And you'll get to see the voice, the face behind the voice here. So you get to see Michelle on that. But also if you go to Instagram, you'll see her artwork, and that's on Mishmash Art stash. Um, so tell us how that name came to be.

Michelle Miracle: Well, um, so just to back up a little bit, once I started kind of cranking these pieces out, I thought, look, I'm never. I may never be in a museum, but I sure could be. This piece could be on a notebook in Target or on a. On a book cover. You know, notebook or journal or something like wallpaper. All of this, like, surface pattern world started to kind of present itself to me. And I thought, wow, my stuff could really be on a product somewhere somehow. You know, it doesn't have to be a masterpiece. But, um, so sorry, I lost my train of thought. You said.

Marco:  It's all right. I was asking how Mishmash Art Stash came to me.

Michelle Miracle: Oh, oh, oh, thank you. So then once I started to kind of realize that these could be surface patterns, I thought, well, maybe this could be of a greeting card. So I was asking friends, you know, hey, if I was going to sell greeting cards with my art, what would I call it? And a friend of mine, she always calls me Mish, like Michelle, so she calls me Mish. And she's like, why don't you call it Mishmash? And I was like, oh, that's great. And I Googled Mishmash, um, greeting cards or Mishmash artist or whatever, and there's, like, a ton of them, but it's M I S H. And then it just kind of came to me because I don't know if you know this about me or if you knew me when you knew me, if I was as into mustaches as I have been before and since, but I have a thing for mustaches. I. In every sketch comedy show we ever did in Denver, I wanted to be a male character so I could wear a mustache. And even at our wedding, as you know, Marco, um, and his lovely wife Amanda were the officiants at our wedding, which is, like, the most special memory of my life. And, um, besides meeting my husband, blah, blah, blah. But we had everybody put on mustaches after the ceremony so we could get a big picture of everyone in a mustache. And it hangs in our hallway, and we see it every night before we go to bed. We walk towards it, and it just makes me smile.

Marco:  That's great. Is there a particular mustache that you like? Like, do you like a pencil mustache? A curly. A handlebar?

Michelle Miracle: I like a beefy mustache. Like a beefy mustache. Like a Sam Elliott mustache.

Marco:  O. So, like, really like. Like a caterpillar under the chin. Like something that has some.

Michelle Miracle: If you needed to sweep the floor, you could.

Marco:  You know what I mean? Yeah.

Michelle Miracle: Uh, just a beefy, big old mustache. So. So, yeah, mishmash art stash kind of just came to me, and then I got a logo designed that's a mustache, and it just. It all kind of fell together, worked together.

Marco:  And, you know, when, you know. Right. It's like you toss around different ideas, and then the one that comes to you, you're like, oh, that's it. That's the one.

Michelle Miracle: And of course, it takes a little bit of explaining when you're trying to spell it out. Um, but it's a great logo, and I think it just really encapsulates me and kind of my sense of weirdness and whimsy and that I'm not taking myself too seriously in all of this.

Marco:  Yeah, that is a great thing to bring to your art as well. Right. That sense of humor, that sense of play, um, with. Which is something that you inherently have in your other performance, in your other art, uh, that being comedy. And, uh, you have a great voice, too, so you're kind of like a triple threat when it comes to visual art, performance art, um, music art. I don't know what that falls under. I wanted to ask you, what is surface pattern? You kept saying surface pattern. I don't know what that is.

Michelle Miracle: Okay, well, it's an industry I did not know existed until a year ago when I started painting. But every product that you buy that has a pattern on it or like if you go to the store and you see shower curtains or wrapping paper or nail stickers or you know, your, your dress has a print on it.

Marco:  Okay.

Michelle Miracle: That doesn't come from inside the company. It's not like an in house art department, which I think some companies may have an in house art department. But from what I understand, and I'm still very new to this and I don't fully understand it all yet, but from what I understand, those companies will go to these exhibits or these like, conventions with all these artists, and these artists will present in a booth. They'll have their own booth. They will present their patterns in collections. So a company that's doing shower curtains might come and say, I want to license that art. And they'll sign a contract with that artist. Then that artist may sell that same or, uh, license that same piece of art to wrapping paper, to sheets, to fabric. You can license a piece of art to 25 different things as long as they don't conflict. And it's something that, like a lot of, um, there's a lot of computer technology involved. You know, I'm still learning that program. There's a program called Procreate. But anyway, so I just wanted to like, work on my skills as an artist first before I start delving into the surface pattern. But that's where I'm headed is like, I really want to see my art, like I said, on a journal in Target or like on a, uh, uh, a, I don't know, a uh, dress in Marshalls or something like that.

Marco:  Sure, sure.

Michelle Miracle: I'm aiming high, you know, Marshalls, Target, I love it. I love those places.

Marco:  So anyway, you're aiming for accessible places for people, which is so, so wonderful. Your, your art is, uh, accessible. Thank you for telling me what surface pattern is. I had no idea.

Michelle Miracle: Surface pattern design, if you Google that, it's like, it's crazy. There's so many people who license their artwork to many different, like book covers and um. Yeah, paint, wallpaper. It's. It's endless. It's crazy. Um, another thing that I was going to say is. Oh, no, I forgot.

Marco:  Well, it's all right. It'll. It'll come to you. It'll come to you. It'll come to you in the middle of discussing something else. So just let me know when it does come to you and if it doesn't, that's okay too. Um, so, Michelle, I want to talk about your art now, because your art really strikes me for many reasons, but you use a technique that has a personal connection to you but really stands out for me. And I'm going to try to describe it, and then you'll correct me. So M. Michelle puts watercolors on the page and there'll be multiple watercolors in an array that is vibrant, whimsical and strong. And if that weren't enough, this is the part where I think it really speaks to me. You then take a black thin tipped pen or marker and you trace the various splonches of color that the watercolor makes on the page. Yes. It's amazing. So tell me, tell me how that came to be. And then if you don't mind sharing what the personal connection is to that, because I think it makes it so much more wonderful.

Michelle Miracle: Well, thank you for saying that. Um, it's kind of. Both of those stories are kind of the same where it was developed, because I am very negative to myself in my brain. And that's how this all kind of started is I, um, would paint something. And because I'm a new artist and I'm learning and I'm trying to figure this out, like, what looks good, what makes sense. But I'm also an improviser, right. In my bones. I don't plan things, I just improvise. And I was kind of beating myself up for not being the kind of artist who plans it out and not being the kind of artist who knows color theory and not being the kind of artist who knows how to paint a, uh, scene or a flower or a bush or a tree or whatever. So I would just paint and then I would look at it and go, this sucks. This is the worst painting I've ever seen in my life. I wouldn't even throw this away. It's so nasty. So I would put it aside and I would just, like, start over, do another one. And I just kept doing this over and over and over again.

Marco:  So you weren't satisfied with the work that you were producing. You were sort of being very critical, as many of us are with the work that we make, especially when it's an artistic endeavor.

Michelle Miracle: Yeah.

Marco:  But then something happened, right?

Michelle Miracle: So then I took a piece out of the trash pile and I thought, look at this. Uh, the paint is, you know, splattery, and I didn't like, make a full swoosh with the, the color and it's all drippy or whatever. And then I just started kind of outlining it and outlining and outlining, and every single gradation, every single drip, every place where the white showed through and the paint didn't cover, I outlined. And then I stood back at the end, and I was like, oh, wow, look at this. It was terrible. I was highlighting the mistakes, quote, unquote. I was trying to, like, prove to myself how ugly it was. And then it became something really beautiful and meaningful to me in that more. The more and more I did that, the more and more I let myself learn and grow and try again and not give up on myself, that I was able to create things that I thought were better, not, but better.

Marco:  And for me, there's.

Michelle Miracle: That.

Marco:  There's the perfection and the imperfection that you're highlighting, and it really lets those colors almost jump off the page the way you do it in such a brilliant way that whenever I see that particular style of art that you do, I'm always, like, mesmerized by it.

Michelle Miracle: Well, thank you. It's really therapeutic, and it's really, um. It's given me a new perspective on myself and my brain and my, like, inner monologue. And it's allowed me to be more gentle with myself. And I think, like, even if I never sell a painting, like, to me it's been a transformative experiment because I'm. I'm learning that, number one, perfection is dumb. That's like. My number one hashtag is, like, perfection is dumb.

Marco:  Sure.

Michelle Miracle: It doesn't. It has no place in our lives because it's not possible. And so to hold ourselves to that standard is, uh. It's a recipe for disaster. Right. And there's no one that can measure up to that. So why am I putting that on myself?

Marco:  Sure.

Michelle Miracle: So. And then by making something that I don't like, but not giving up and adding to it and learning and growing and continuing to hang in there, you. It's like a lesson for myself of, like, oh, if I. If I just, like, hung in there with all these other things in my life or these other aspects of my creative career, instead of, like, giving up or, you know, bowing out or telling myself it's not going to work or I'm not good enough or whatever. If I just kept in there and tried again tomorrow, then maybe something beautiful would happen. And so, for me, it's just been a really great growth period. I don't know if that makes sense.

Marco:  Yeah, it certainly does. Um, there certainly is something very calming when you're able to release the idea of Perfection. And know that what you're creating is creative, and sometimes that's all it needs to be. Right.

Michelle Miracle: Well, I'm sorry.

Marco:  No, no, please.

Michelle Miracle: I was just gonna say that I don't know about you, but as a perfectionist who's, you know, working through it, there's so many ideas that I've had in the past for creative endeavors or projects or scripts or scenes or sketches or, you know, projects, whatever, that I will obsess about in my mind and decide that I won't be able to accomplish it because it won't be perfect or somebody else has already done it, and I can't do it better. And there's no way I can accomplish this because of this. And I just talk myself out of it before I ever try. So because of that, I think that this has been such a great thing for me to just be like, look, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just trying this. I'm just winging it. I'm improvising every painting I do, and who knows if it's going to suck or not? It might suck. And that's okay, because I'll do another one. Sure.

Marco:  Is that. Is that a train?

Michelle Miracle: It is a train. I got to go. I'm just kidding.

Marco:  Michelle's train has arrived, folks. I'm just like. I'm hearing this lovely sound in the background. I'm like, I think there is a train near you. If I remember, every hour. Every hour, there's a train whistle. It's actually quite beautiful. I mean, I think it's quite beautiful. Do you even hear it anymore?

Michelle Miracle: I do sometimes. Um, especially if I'm trying to record a voiceover or whatever. But, um, yeah, it's just kind of all day, every day, and it's just something I hear all the time, so I kind of tune it out.

Marco:  There's, you know, there's beautiful train sounds. I thought that was a really pretty train sound. But I remember when I was working in France many years ago, this sounds. So Amanda's always, like, rolling her eyes when I say statements like that, because it sounds France. Um, I was working in France, so this was many years ago. And it was. Trust me, when I say it was. It was not a fun job. Okay? So. But my hotel was near the train station, and they have this weird sound to French trains that's really unnerving. And I remember thinking to myself, what. What is that sound? They're like, oh, a train has arrived at the. At the station. I'm like, my goodness, um, but we have a train not far from where. Where I live. And every once in a while, you hear the train, like a distant. A distant whistle of the train. And I'm like, oh, there's the train. But it doesn't happen every hour because there's no stop or there's no, um. I guess the train just keeps going near me. There's no. There's no area to stop, I guess.

Michelle Miracle: Yeah, I think there's. There's not very. There aren't very many, um, places where it crosses a street. But because it crosses a street here, that's why that we get the horn.

Marco:  I see. I see. All right, I want to go back to. Okay, so we've described the art, and I'm going to try to put up a piece of it on our social media on the Insomnia project so you can see Michelle's artwork. And for our listeners who, uh, subscribe to the Patreon, I'm working with Michelle to try to get something available to you with her art. So stay tuned for that.

Michelle Miracle: It's a surprise.

Marco:  M. It's a bit of a surprise. Um, and, um, we'll work on it as best we can. And when I say we, Michelle's, uh, gonna help me out, and I'm gonna try to figure it out. Cause that's where I sort of. I find it's so difficult for me to figure things out. Like, I feel like it's such a big task, and then once I get it done, it's done. So, folks, stay tuned for that. That's, uh, a PSA that went longer than I wanted it to. Uh, but I want to go back, Michelle, to the connection of the outlining of your art, uh, your personal connection to that.

Michelle Miracle: Oh, uh, yeah, now I. I realize what you mean.

Marco:  Um, your father, like, the stuff you needed.

Michelle Miracle: Thank you. Uh, oh, yes. So my. Once I started doing this over and over and over again with the outlining and seeing the different kind of gradations of color and how the. The lines kind of. A lot of times went in the same direction or, you know, I didn't realize what a pattern it was making while I was doing it, because I was just so focused on the individual line. But when I zoomed out, I could see this, like, beautiful piece that looked like a map. And it kind of threw me because my dad, who passed away in 1997, was a cartographer. He made maps. And. And I thought, like, well, that's weird. This looks like something my dad used to make. And I don't think that's. I don't think it's completely a coincidence, but I do find a really cool connection with, you know, my childhood. And seeing my dad make these maps in our basement, you know, hunched over a light table. And then to see that, like, this art that I'm creating is sometimes. Not all the time, but sometimes looks very similar to these topographical maps that

Marco:  he used to make, it's so wonderful. When you said that, I was like, oh, this. This painting now has taken on even more significant meaning, and it's so wonderful. There is a topographic feel to your. To your art, which, once again, is hard to describe. But when you see it, you're like, yes, of course. And it really lets the arts, um, jump off the page. What are you thinking when you're doing the tracing? What's going through your mind? Is it just a very, like, calm place that you're at as you trace?

Michelle Miracle: Yeah, you know, it's. It started out, like I said, really negative. Like, I was highlighting the mistakes. But since then, now that I've kind of accepted that it's gonna be better when I do this now, I find it really calming, and I find that it's kind of a way for me to. To zone out, but also talk to myself in a nicer way. Because while I'm doing it, I'm like, oops, you missed a line. Oh, well, who cares? You know, perfectionism is dumb. So, like, if I. If I don't do it exactly right, there's always a way I can fix it or a way that it will make sense. And I just keep telling myself, it's okay. It's gonna make sense. It'll work. Don't worry. This is all working. Everything's working out. And again, when I'm done and I zoom out, it's like, wow, I never knew, Marco, that I could make things like this, that I could create something like any of this art. And I'm not saying that it's great. It's just, like, you don't know what you are capable of until you give yourself permission to do something and to fail at it and to try again. And, like, that is where the beauty of it is for me. Not that, you know, I think I'll be in a gallery somewhere. Thousands of dollars in a. For one print. But, I mean, maybe I will. Who knows? But, uh, that's not even what it's about for me. It's. It's literally about giving myself the permission to be creative and then seeing what I can do. Sure. I Think that's true for everybody. I think it's such a powerful epiphany for me and I hope that other people would be inspired to like, listen to that, own their own little voice that's like, hey, you should try that thing that you've been wanting, wanting to.

Marco:  Well, if they can't listen to their own, they should listen to yours. As you tell us about the cathartic nature of the endeavor that you just picked up. And I, uh, understand you also, uh, have some of your art available in cards, in card form.

Michelle Miracle: So, um, currently I have greeting cards and then I have 5x7 8 by 10 prints that are on like really beautiful paper, so they feel like an original. And then I also have magnets, and I don't have those online yet because I'm, I'm getting ready to do a craft fair this weekend. So I'm, um, kind of gearing up for that. But then when that's over, then I'm gonna put everything up on, on my website. So hopefully it will be up there soon. Just double check. And what else? And I'm selling some originals as well.

Marco:  So if you're in Southern California, you're going to be at a few craft fairs coming up, right? Michelle, let's tell our listeners where they can find your art if they're not going online.

Michelle Miracle: Right? Um, yes, some things will be available right now online, but then in the next couple of weeks they'll be more online. And then I'm going to be at a place called Barn and Charm, which is a cute little craft, uh, store. It's a little bit of everything store in Santa Clarita. And they're doing a sidewalk sale. So there's like 10 artists and vendors out there on Saturday, April 16 and April 15. I'm sorry. And then April 16, Sunday, I'm going to be at the Agua Dulce Winery. There's a craft festival there and there will be music and wine and food and crafts. So I'm very excited. It's my first like, live test of maybe people will like this and maybe they won't. It'll be a good experiment. But because of all this journey that I've been on, I'm kind of okay with it. You know, it's like, well, if it works, great and if it doesn't, I'll try something else.

Marco:  That's wonderful. If you had any advice for our listeners who might be thinking, oh, you know what? Michelle found so much catharsis in watercolors and they wanted to do watercolors or something else. What would the advice be that you

Michelle Miracle: would share with them to start watercolor painting specifically or, or whichever.

Marco:  Let's say, let's say they want to do. Okay, give us advice for specifically watercolors and give us advice for any artistic thing they might want to do.

Michelle Miracle: You know, I took a couple online classes. Like I did some YouTube tutorials and then I did a thing called Craftsy C R A F T S Y. It's a subscription service, but I got a really good deal on it. They have coupons all the time and, and I just watched like a ton of watercolor tutorials and on Instagram there's a ton. And TikTok, there's um, several people that I follow that are just like, they teach little 10 second chunks that are like, you know, light bulb moments of oh, wow, this is so easy. And I can do this. Um, so yeah, I would suggest like just taking a deep dive, buying some inexpensive materials, go to one of the craft stores, buy you know, $20 worth of paints and brushes and then just, just play around. I mean that's, it's the best way to just see like, I am not a person that can. Like I said, I'm not a, um, very skilled draw per drawer. I don't know how to say that I cannot draw. Let's just say that. And so my painting is much more abstract and I love that because there's no rules. I don't have to make it look like a specific bird. But I'm sorry. So impressed by people that can. It is amazing if somebody's like, oh, that's this tree and that's a, this bird. And I'm like, whoa, how did you do that? So, yeah, I think you just kind of lean into what you like, what kind of art you like and what kind of art you like to create.

Marco:  That's great. That's great. Just pick up the brush and paint and see what happens.

Michelle Miracle: Yeah. Because the worst that can happen is, is that you spend an hour creating.

Marco:  Yeah.

Michelle Miracle: There's nothing wrong with that. And if you hate it, no one has to see it. And if you love it, do it again tomorrow.

Marco:  Yeah. Do you ever watch the show? And I'm going to, I'm going to. We've reached our time.

Michelle Miracle: Okay.

Marco:  I just wanted to mention, have you ever seen the show Portrait, Portrait Artist of the Year?

Michelle Miracle: No.

Marco:  Portrait or Portrait Artist of the Year, as they say on the show. Yeah. Ah, the older woman who's the host says it in a very, in a very sort of, um, Royal way. She speaks like the queen. I think she's friends with the Queen too. But. So it's a British show called Portrait Artist of the Year.

Michelle Miracle: Okay.

Marco:  It's such a calm, wonderful show. I invite you to watch it. I think it's available on Prime.

Michelle Miracle: Okay.

Marco:  And what it is, is a bunch of artists in the UK get together and they paint somewhat famous people and they're famous in the uk, but you'll watch it and you'll be like, I don't know who this person is, but they'll be like, you might remember him from Boink, My cup is Full. Or from. Or from. Yeah, Razzle without the dazzle. We have Mark Thunderbird here and this guy will come out and they'll be like, these three artists will be like, oh, my goodness, Mark Thunderbird is there. And they'll draw him. And then they'll be. They'll be generally. Generally speaking, there'll be three famous, uh, people and three artists per famous person, and they'll draw. And then at the end, three of the paintings get selected or shortlisted, and then one gets picked to compete for the chance to paint another famous person that's going to end up in a gallery. So, for example, one year was Tom Jones was the big prize. So they had to, uh. The winner would paint Tom Jones and it would end up in the National Gallery in Wales or something like that. Please forgive me if I've gotten it got it wrong. Anyways, it's one of my relaxing shows that I like to watch when I just need to chill. And I invite you to watch it because it's pretty wonderful. Now, if you really want to delve into this sort of series and you really want the one that's going to be the one that'll make you fall asleep, then I say watch Landscape Artist of the Year, same sort of thing. But they're painting British landscapes.

Michelle Miracle: Oh, God.

Marco:  And it's pretty. It's pretty lovely. And it's one of those shows. Sometimes I need shows where nothing really happens and everyone is safe and everyone is fine. And these are those shows. So I invite you to watch them.

Michelle Miracle: And they're not like cutthroat competition, right? Like British reality shows or competition shows are so polite. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna watch those. Thank you for the reco.

Marco:  Because you and I, you and I were watching, um. Uh, what's that show where the repair shop. And we didn't know and then we started to talk about the repair shop and my wife's like, repair. Why Are you in Miracle Watching this show?

Michelle Miracle: Because it's lovely. I cry at every episode. It's like so sentimental and like seeing somebody's, you know, memory revived is like beautiful.

Marco:  Mhm. It's wonderful. Anyways, that's, that's the time we have here today. Once again, go to our show notes and you'll find the links, but otherwise, just type in michellemiracle.com into your search engine and click on art and you'll see her art. Michelle, uh, before we go, anything like to say.

Michelle Miracle: Well, I was just going to say that you can also find me and more of my art on Instagram at, uh, mishmash art stash. And it's going to be hard to spell M I C H like Michelle M M A S H A R T and then stash like mustache S T A C H E Mishmash art stash.

Marco:  Fantastic. Well, Michelle, thank you so much. This, this time has gone by so quickly.

Michelle Miracle: I know.

Marco:  I really appreciate it. And uh, like I said, for our Patreons. Patreons, we're working on something for you, so stand by and until next time. Michelle, thank you for joining us.

Michelle Miracle: Thank you. And I hope all your listeners get um, creative this week.

Marco:  There you go. Um, and I hope all our listeners were able to listen and sleep.