MARGARET NOEL was born in New York City in 1971, studied Studio Art and Anthropology at Oberlin College, and earned her MFA in painting from the New York Studio School. Noel’s mixed media paintings and drawings fuse alternating layers of beeswax, soot, pigment, and paper to portray landscapes and architecture that have been affected by disasters, both natural and man-made. She currently splits her time between her studio in the Gowanus area of Brooklyn, NY and her position as a Professor of Drawing in the Department of Art and Art History of Kutztown University of PA. Noel has exhibited widely in galleries and museums in New York City, Budapest, Massachusetts, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, and has been featured in print and online publications including The Hopkins Review, Hyperallergic, and Painter’s Table.