About the Author
L. Michelleangelo V.
L. Michelleangelo V. was born and raised in San Diego, California and resides there now. Her creativity showed at a very young age through stage plays, choir, piano, dancing, costume making, and arts and crafts. Paper, cardboard, and tape were her favorite medium.
In high school her creativity flourished through poetry, drawings, paintings in both acrylic and airbrush, sewing, bass guitar, more stage plays, and creating spirit banners for her school football and basketball teams. She won a t-shirt design contest at her local library. To this day she enjoys watching football with her family and friends. By the time she graduated in 1998, she had written enough poetry to fill four books. Her father named her “Michelleangelo” for having painted a dragon on the ceiling of her bedroom, using her legal middle name of Michelle and name of the painter of the Sistine Chapple. Michelleangelo liked it so much that she immediately started signing it on all her paintings, adopting it as her artist name. She also picked up the nickname “Lady Bleak” from her friends based on her moody art and gothic style dress. During this era, she learned the value of temporary experiential art.
In high school her creativity flourished through poetry, drawings, paintings in both acrylic and airbrush, sewing, bass guitar, more stage plays, and creating spirit banners for her school football and basketball teams. She won a t-shirt design contest at her local library. To this day she enjoys watching football with her family and friends. By the time she graduated in 1998, she had written enough poetry to fill four books. Her father named her “Michelleangelo” for having painted a dragon on the ceiling of her bedroom, using her legal middle name of Michelle and name of the painter of the Sistine Chapple. Michelleangelo liked it so much that she immediately started signing it on all her paintings, adopting it as her artist name. She also picked up the nickname “Lady Bleak” from her friends based on her moody art and gothic style dress. During this era, she learned the value of temporary experiential art.
After high school she entered the workforce as a security guard. She continued to work in the service industry into present day. After college she got into management roles. She held various jobs in retail, restaurants, movie theatres, and various venues as a security guard.
In January 2000 she moved to San Francisco, CA to attend the Academy of Art University. In June 2004 she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Motion Pictures, emphasis in Directing. She entered an annual film competition that her University held. Her project was never shown. The speculation was that the school wanted to feature seniors, not freshmen. But the dissapointment was huge. That day her father gave her some advice that stuck with her ever since, "Stand on your own merrit." So when her professor requested a copy of the project to show to his future classes, as an example of what a first year student could make, she knew she could keep creating regardless of outcome. During college, she had gotten married to and separated from her first husband, whom she still holds in high regard. In college her acting, dancing, sewing, and painting refined, as she added all aspects of the motion picture craft to her arsenal of creativity. She also learned the value of abstract and experimental art, and the power and responsibility of visual storytelling. She earned the nickname “Mistress of Love and Death” from her classmates based on the content of her film projects.
In January 2000 she moved to San Francisco, CA to attend the Academy of Art University. In June 2004 she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Motion Pictures, emphasis in Directing. She entered an annual film competition that her University held. Her project was never shown. The speculation was that the school wanted to feature seniors, not freshmen. But the dissapointment was huge. That day her father gave her some advice that stuck with her ever since, "Stand on your own merrit." So when her professor requested a copy of the project to show to his future classes, as an example of what a first year student could make, she knew she could keep creating regardless of outcome. During college, she had gotten married to and separated from her first husband, whom she still holds in high regard. In college her acting, dancing, sewing, and painting refined, as she added all aspects of the motion picture craft to her arsenal of creativity. She also learned the value of abstract and experimental art, and the power and responsibility of visual storytelling. She earned the nickname “Mistress of Love and Death” from her classmates based on the content of her film projects.
After college she lost access to her film projects because a virus was downloaded onto her computer by someone she was dating. The joke is that he gave her computer and STD because of where the virus came from. After she moved away from that relationship, one of the apartments she lived in flooded. Almost all of her drawings and paintings were either damaged or destroyed.
Having lost most of everything that she had created she started writing her first novel.
For a short time, she ran a small business sewing custom renaissance clothing as a side hustle. In 2008 she had to give up the business to get away from a violent relationship. After having a taste of being an entrepreneur, she knew this was the direction she needed to go. This began the journey to becoming an independent storyteller and artist.
She adopted four cats, Falkor, Klieo, Bella, and Morkelb. In 2012 she married her second husband, a close friend who had all the dirt on her and loved her anyway, whom she worked with in an Italian restaurant for five years.
She entered a 48-hour film making competition with some of her coworkers and they won the "best use of character" category.
In February 2015 they moved in with Michelleangelo’s paternal grandmother, who had dementia and needed overnight care. They lived with her for the last two and a half years of her grandmother’s life. During this time, Michelleangelo made great strides on her novel. She did many hours of editing, and she started painting the art for the novel cover. During this era she learned that the mood, instead of the words, of an experience had the more profound impact.
After her grandmother passed away in 2017, she continued to paint and work on her novel. She got back into beading and jewelry making, a craft she used to do as a kid. Their cat Bella passed away unexpectedly in 2019. Michelleangelo picked up music again, dabbling in bass, ukulele, and guitar.
Two more of their cats passed away in early 2024, exactly a month apart. Morkelb and Klieo were both kittens from Bella. Klieo’s litter was born only months before Morkelb’s. In this era Michelleangelo learned how to give medications to cats, including giving injections and fluids via IV. She discovered how important it is to find a vet who cares about the animals they are seeing, and how important it is to be there while your fur babies are put down.
In December 2024 Michelleangelo self-published her novel Descent of the Flaming Dove. In addition to being the author, she had painted the cover art, and designed the book layout. It released to the public on International Womens Day, March 8, 2025.
In the summer of 2025 Michelleangelo, her husband, and her cat Falkor, moved in with her father-in-law and his dog Kylie, in order to provide better care for both her father-in-law and his dog.
Falkor passed away a few days after Christmas 2025 at the age of 19. He was at home, in Michelleangelo's lap, with the sun on his face when he went.
Michelleangelo is currently working two part time day jobs framing art. She is working on her second novel, a sequel to Descent of the Flaming Dove. She is also working on a painting collaboration with her best friend America. In her free time she is swimming, landscaping her new home, going to art exhibits, and spending time with family and friends.
