Miss Mellie ~a first-person visit with a gentle artist and vibrant soul

Hi! Thank you for coming to our CaaT team blog. I am a long time member of the CaaT team! My name is Melanie – and I have always loved my name, and loved my namesake – Miss Mellie from Gone With The Wind. I would like to be as sweet and innocent and kind and accepting as she was, but I’m afraid I’m a little more human than that.

How would I describe myself?

In no particular order, I am...

~A wife

~A Mother

~An Artist

~M.E./CFS and Dysautonomia sufferer

~A follower of Jesus

~An Author

~A book-aholic

~An art Collector

~A Tea-aholic and Reviewer

~Friendly… Spunky… and Fun-Loving!

Bill and I have been married since 1984. We have 3 grown children, each of whom have their own unique artistic talents.

I consider myself a self-taught artists, though I have taken workshops, and studied many art techniques through DVD's and online. My favorite workshop was with Ron Ranson, a well known watercolorist who incorporates impressionistic technique with asian technique.

I love to paint with watercolors. The movement and dance that occurs between the pigment and water along with the unpredictable results are fascinating to me. Every painting I sit down to do is an adventure!

I have titled my art shops and website “The Creators Palette”. My goal is to share my love for, and awe in, the creation of beauty. I feel the best art touches my heart and makes me “feel”. The feeling may be joyous, peaceful, or even sad (one of my favorite art pieces makes me cry). Most of all, I want to convey a feeling of wonder and draw the viewer closer to the creator of all beauty.

I have always been a creative person, but it wasn’t until fairly recently that I began to paint in watercolor and sell my art. I was a very active person most of my life and my artistic/creative outlets fell in areas like competitive diving and gymnastics, garden design and most recently, developing and teaching a preschool dance program at Vancouver’s Columbia Dance. I am a published author, and I have also been asked many times to speak at women’s retreats and conferences which I enjoy very much and put a lot of artistic effort into my presentations.

All of that changed in Dec. 2001. During our annual run of The Nutcracker ballet, I came down with a severe virus that has developed into M. E. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis)/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). I also have Partial Dysautonomia which means my Autonomic Nervous system is damaged and causes something called POTS, and Gastroparesis (among many other bothersome symptoms).

By June of 2003 I was barely holding on, teaching dance from a chair. I knew then that I had to quit. Thankfully, a wonderful new teacher came along and the program that I had started has more than blossomed under her direction. But I was left unable to do anything I had been doing the past 15 years of my life!

Anxious that illness would not ruin my life, I began looking for things that I could spend my time doing. Being stuck most hours in a recliner is difficult, but I am thankful that it has brought me to a point of developing new artistic endeavors.

I remain a very friendly, yet spunky and a fun-loving person. Sometimes I feel like I am a butterfly all wrapped up in a cocoon – struggling to let my wings spread and fly! This is why, when my husband lost his parents, he spent a portion of the inheritance they left him, on a convertible Miata for me! It’s my “flying” time. When I can get out in it, my soul soars. I drive with the top down whenever possible – and have even driven through a sudden downpour (laughing all the way), and in light snow (it felt like I was skiing).

I have many places online that you can visit me.

~I have a shop on Etsy call “The Creators Palette”.

~I try to blog regularly - about life, art, books, tea and I even offer occasional giveaways. You can also subscribe to my BLOG and have it delivered directly to your email if you like!

~I have a WEBSITE where you can see and purchase my newest paintings, and you can also purchase prints, framed prints, canvas prints and notecards! Since my website is new, I’m offering 20% OFF to my first 10 customers! Use code XUUTHP at checkout.

I have a Facebook fan page, and invite you all to come and visit and “like” it.

I also use twitter and you can follow me if you like

Thank you for dropping by to meet me!

~Melanie 

Color Merge ~ the art of Bernice Wagnitz

Bernice - in her own words:

"I've worked with my hands all my life. I had to create something even if it didn't turn out the way I thought it should. I have discovered digital art and fell in love with this new medium of expression. My art is called Color Merge and is as bold as they come. The colors blending and melting into each other making a simple pasture into a fantasy world. I have three groups of Color Merge art, human, flowers, landscapes."

See more of Bernice's ART here:
BERNICE97

Become a fan on FACEBOOK

Purchase ART here at Digital Art by Bernice 

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"Art is my passion..." ~ Darlene Howell

Featured CAAT Artist:
DARLENE HOWELL

My name is Darlene Howell. I am married and have four children. I am for the most part a stay at home mother. I am a hairstylist as well but when I started having children I decided to stay at home with my children and I only do my family and friends hair now. I help children cross the street at the local school for an hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon, but other then that the only other income I have is from the sale of my art.

I am a self taught artist. I had a few basic art classes in highschool, but that is it as far as formal training. My family has always been creating something as far back as I can remember. I started fabric painting with my mother as a young child and also made beaded jewelry; mostly brick stitch jewelry, but other beaded jewelry as well. After I had my second child in 1995 I started teaching fabric painting as a hobby and I really loved it. Art is my passion I am always looking for something new to try. I love to paint animals on functional items. I paint on clothing [and objects]; shoes, hats, serving trays, vases, wallets, jewelry, you name it I have probably painted on it or will try. I also do love to create more "fine art" on canvas or paper. I found the great tiny little works of art called ACEO* on eBay in 2005 and fell in love because I do not have an art studio and do not have a lot of room for large paintings and ACEO's are perfect because they are small enough to put in albums. I also love to create scratchboards as well as make beaded jewelry.

*ACEO = art cards, editions, and originals; always 2.5" x 3.5"

I have two shops on Etsy one is for my more fine art and the other is for my functional and wearable art.

ARTBYDARLA on ETSY

http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbydarla

DARLASBEADS (on ETSY)

I also sell my items on eBay

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Meet GENE FOUST

I am an impressionist artist and have been selling my original artwork online for several years. I became interested in art at a young age and received my BA from Truman University in 1990. I previously painted on commission before beginning my online art business. I favor landscape with the emphasis on color relationships. I value my customers and enjoy the opportunity to present a quality product to them. My work can be seen at www.foust.etsy.com

~Gene Foust

Find more of Gene's work on ETSY

...



Say hello to Flying Mule Studio

Hello!

We're Jon & Sharon England of

Flying Mule Studio

We love vintage cameras, firmly believing film is not dead, and most of our Photography Art Prints are visual testimonies of the depth analogue has to offer. But, we do acknowledge that Digital has it's place and do offer Digital Prints as well. Although Jon prefers to leave that area to his wife as he stands firmly beside his trusty Zenit EM camera.

Sharon is an artist of all sorts. Painting, writing, sewing, sketching, and sculpting away in an effort to share the joy that bubbles up in her heart with the rest of mankind. She loves experimenting with new techniques and playing with colors and textures. So you just never know what whimsical pieces you'll find in their Shop.

Though we've been doing all the above for years, we've recently decided to join forces under the umbrella of the Flying Mule.

It's been nice sharing a bit about ourselves and we hope to see you sometime in the land of the Flying Mule...

Blog:

http://www.flyingmulestudio.blogspot.com/

Etsy Store:

http://www.whimsyartist.etsy.com/

Zazzle Store:

http://www.zazzle.com/whimsyartist

 

~~~~~~~~~

Beth S. Macre ~ Artist

Beth S. Macre -- In first person:

I have been an artist for many years, but as an art teacher and mother, I have focused more on my own children and my student’s art than my own. When my oldest child moved off to college, I began to spend more and more time on my own art and looking for ways to sell some things online, to supplement college expenses.

Selling my art was a whole new thing for me. I have always created…drawings, paintings, bowls, clay boxes…selling a few things along the way. I didn’t have the time to travel to art shows and festivals while the kids were little. I didn’t have the option of internet sales until a few years ago, when we actually graduated from dial up to DSL! It was pretty good timing. My kids were going away to college soon and I needed 2 things: to sell some artwork to help with expenses, and a unique item to create and sell online. I got an idea for a textured tile from a project that I was doing with my High School Art students. I made some samples for them to watch me create, and to look at the finished product. So I decided to put one up on Ebay to see if it would sell and it did! So I put a few more tiles on there and they sold. I was pretty excited about selling to someone that I did not know! Eventually I ended up switching over to Etsy and started selling textured tiles. I made one with a dog by a dog house and posted a photo. That is when I got my first ‘request’ for a tile. A lady contacted me about ‘trading’ artwork. She liked my tiles and she had the idea to put her dogs by her house on a tile and I could pick out any painting in her shop as a trade! So I created a tile for her (see the picture included), and the custom house tiles were born in my shop! Oh and I still love the painting that I received from her, all the way from Canada!

Later I made some house shaped magnets for gifts. That led to the idea of having 3D mini houses. I love little hearts, so I put a little mini heart on each little house I create. I call them HeartHomes. I’ve made teeny mini HeartHomes up to very tall HeartHomes. Each house is one of a kind and made by me from the wet clay that is cut and shaped into the little houses with a roof, windows, doors, shutters, flower boxes, and other individual and unique details. I am also painting little HeartHome villages on canvases now for those customers who like 2D art.

Whimsical is a word that often used to describe my HeartHomes and my other clay items and paintings. I am having a great time creating these little sculptures and I am thrilled each time that someone wants to buy one and take it home with them.

In my original Etsy shop, bmacre.etsy.com, I mostly offer custom pen and ink illustrations of homes. I will also be adding more paintings and illustrations in the near future.

 

FIND BETH ON FACEBOOK

 

BETH'S BLOG

 

FIND BETH'S ART ON ETSY

 

Joyefulart !

Joyefulart ~ portraits,
fine art prints, 

and website design

by Joye Schwartz

ARTIST BIO

WEBSITE

BLOG

WEB DESIGN

Find "CAAT TEAM" artist JOYEFUL art on ETSY!

Look for Joye on FACEBOOK

Find all of Joye's Etsy art here

Joye is on TWITTER

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