Michaelin Reamy Watts is an artist specializing in natural color and design. Based in her Carmel, California studio, Michaelin has clients throughout the United States and abroad. Her work should not be confused with what has been commonly described as “getting your colors done”. It should not be confused with the color consultation offered at cosmetic counters or even the standardized set of colors representing one of the four seasons.
Michaelin believes that each person, like every life form, has a distinctly individual pattern of color, design and personality, and that this pattern forms an integrity that is a person’s natural beauty, power and birthright. Through her work, Michaelin demonstrates that this pattern can be discovered and then amplified in dress and environment.
Michaelin was born into a family of artists, horticulturists and nature lovers, where from childhood she developed a keen appreciation of natural color and design. She lived for an extended period in Beirut, Lebanon as well as in East & North Africa. There she sharpened her observation skills and appreciation of natural diversity.
In the early 1980’s Michaelin crossed paths with Suzanne Caygill (1911 – 1994), creator of the field of personal color identification, commonly known as personal color analysis. Suzanne Caygill recognized that the design and color harmony expressed in every individual reflected the design and color harmony of one of the four seasons … Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. She saw clearly that each person's color and design was highly individualized. There are a myriad of "Types" within each season. Many of these "Types" are described in her beautiful book, Color: the Essence of You.
Michaelin graduated from Ms. Caygill’s Academy of Color, and after an apprenticeship became Suzanne’s working and traveling companion. Michaelin assisted Ms. Caygill with color palettes, color and design consultations and the teaching of seminars in Atlanta, California and New York. Immersed in Suzanne's work, Michaelin received the gift of discovery for determining the design, color harmony and specific type for individual clients. Michaelin enriches her work with intuitive skills developed over two decades as a psychotherapist with extensive study of the interplay of mind, body and spirit in maintaining health and life balance.
In 1999 Michaelin introduced Suzanne Caygill's work to Cornell University, where the Suzanne Caygill archives are housed and protected in the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts Suzanne Caygill Archives. Michaelin is working with Cornell to make this rich body of material increasingly available to researchers, students of color design and the public.