Mary Michael Shelley has been making her painted low relief woodcarvings for 30 years and during that time has produced upwards of 1000 pieces. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institute, the Museum of American Folk Art, The High Museum, The American Museum in England, the New York Historical Society, and the National Museum of Women and the Arts. An Absolut Vodka advertisement has been done of her work. She is commonly referred to as a folk artist, although she feels most comfortable describing herself as self taught. She has had no visual arts training, although she graduated From Cornell University with a major in creative writing, She worked for 14 years as a sign painter, and the learning of this trade had a strong effect on her development of skills as an artist.