Michelle Gates is an illustrator who loves science, art, and education. She relishes any excuse to explore and illustrate the natural world. Nature is her primary source of inspiration. She loves the complex patterns and forms of living things. Michelle works in a variety of traditional mediums, including ink, watercolor, colored pencil, acrylic, and gouache.
Michelle currently resides in Northern Virginia with her husband, three children, and a dog. She enjoys dragging them outside to find everything from tiny metallic sweat bees to towering tree ferns. She has taught local history and ecology at Green Spring Gardens, a botanical garden. She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Society of Children’s Book Illustrators, the Vienna Arts Society, and the Virginia Native Plant Society.
Earned a certificate in Botanical Illustration from the Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh with Distinction in 2023.
