HISTORY (Abstract Currency)

Where the past gets a little more colorful.

 

History was my first collection—and the one that changed the way I saw my own potential as an artist.

Inspired by the familiar faces and symbols of American currency, I began reimagining historical figures through bold color, layered texture and unexpected details. I wanted to take imagery we’ve seen countless times and make people stop and look again.

I had been creating and selling my artwork for years, but while exhibiting this collection in a local coffee shop, something happened that shifted my perspective. A collector walked in and purchased $3,500 of my paintings for his new home—including pieces at a price point I had never reached before.

It wasn’t my first sale. But it was the first time I truly understood what might be possible.

That day gave me the confidence to think bigger about my work, my value as an artist, and where Michele Benton Art could go.

Abstract Currency is the collection that started that next chapter.

The collection continues to celebrate history without treating it as something that belongs only in the past—combining recognizable imagery with contemporary color, energy and a little irreverence.