Michelle Mahoney Beck
MM Beck
Lititz, Pennsylvania
Rooted in the past - - Made in the present - - Lasting into the future

I am a person who is shy and nervous in group situations but is completely enthralled by one-on-one conversations. I am an artist. I just make what I make, and I feel compelled to do so. I graduated from Franklin and Marshall College, a liberal arts school, in Lancaster, PA with departmental honors and an art degree. This is where my formal training ended. I did not continue on for a masters of fine arts but instead found a job and did my art on the side. Then I painted and sculpted. Eventually I discovered textiles and fell in love with velvet.

I have an elemental need to create an air of elegance with my work. Each piece is a balance of beauty and function. These two characteristics are my focal point and must both be present in my work. Beauty without function or function without beauty will sit on a shelf or lie at the bottom of a closet until it becomes undesirable and is thrown away. I reject the idea of a disposable society and I won’t make anything that might, in any way, be considered disposable.

Whereas I have many distinctive viewpoints on life, when it comes to my work I have two simple points. First, make it beautiful. Second, make it right. I don’t take shortcuts and I refuse to put my label on something I am not 100% satisfied with. All of the velvet I use is milled in North Carolina and everything is constructed, by me, in Lititz, PA.

My family is my greatest joy in life. I have been blessed with a husband who loves and supports me and my work. Together we have an adopted family of four-legged friends that we absolutely adore. I share my work space with our friends as they are each, in their own way, a source of joy and inspiration.

My work is always my own. I make everything that has an MM Beck label on it. I have no interest in being a huge designer with teams of employees. I love what I do. Working by myself guarantees that my work is always the best it can be and guarantees my valued customers a high level of quality.