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I
am a Memphis, Tennessee
representative of
NASTY
WOMEN Global Art
Exhibitions and
Activism and
in October 2022,
I closed the fourth
NASTY
WOMEN Memphis
exhibit I have produced
and curated.
I
grew up in the Northeast
Louisiana town of
Monroe where I first
noticed my artistic
talent in the second
grade while drawing
a swan for a class
illustration of
The Ugly Duckling.
My report cards
throughout grade
school reflected
a hidden world,
where I preferred
to wander, distracted
from my teacher's
lesson. "Doesn't
pay attention"
and "Daydreams"
would be the constant
warning from teachers
to my parents.
The
intervention doesn't
seem to have worked,
but I think I'll
be okay. ;)
In
the late 1980's,
I relocated to North
Mississippi, where
I focused my creative
energy into writing
for The
Panolian
of Batesville, Mississippi,
as Michelle Jones.
For the next four
years, I wrote a
weekly humor column
named, "Keeping
Up With the Joneses".
The
newspaper life demanded
several moves throughout
Mississippi, with
temporary relocation
to Honolulu, Hawaii,
and Fredericksburg,
Virginia. |
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Ruthless
16 x 20
September 2020
Ink, Charcoal, Printed
Papers
on top of a Hardboard
Sign
I Made and Carried
in the 2018
Memphis, Tennessee
Protest of
Brett Kavanaugh's
Confirmation. |
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In 1999, I sustained the
death of my father and
the end of my first marriage,
which led to my reassessment
of goals and return to
North Mississippi. Refocussing
my talent
through self-study, I
dove deeper into website
development that I initiated
during the dawning era
of the dot-com boom. Using
instinctual design tools,
I further developed my
interest in design and
layout, and greater experience
was gained, while working
at newspapers and magazines.
Simultaneously, I ran
my own web design firm,
which eventually commanded
my full attention, when
it started leading the
industry in North Mississippi
and Memphis, Tennessee.
During
my 2007 wedding anniversary
vacation in Cancun, I
suddenly went into convulsions,
was rushed to the intensive
care unit of a Mexican
hospital and diagnosed
with a brain aneurysm.
My treating doctor wasn't
sure if I could survive
a flight back to the states,
but realizing nothing
could be done for me there,
ordered a life flight
to Miami, Florida's Jackson
Memorial Hospital. After
a week long stay at JMH,
a team of neurologists
un-diagnosed the brain
aneurysm (whew!) and correctly
diagnosed me with relapsing
remitting multiple sclerosis.
Returning
home to consider my new
life in convalescence,
I found my healing - once
again - in art. When vision
in both of my eyes was
restored, I brushed my
rebellion onto canvas,
where it became an aesthetic
I could consider. Balance
and other taken-for-granted
functions gradually returned
and brought with them,
new possibilities.
Creative
therapy and continued
education in media and
techniques, helped form
my style of intense color
and repetitive, semi-abstract
shape.
You
may notice quite a few
pieces with a little black
and white dog or ginkgo
leaves. That's because
my Pekingese, Moosh, is
my muse since I got her
in 2011.. and she has
a ginkgo leaf shape on
her head.
I
teach mixed media painting,
printmaking and metalsmithing
courses at at various
venues. If you are interested
in my art instruction
services, please
view my CV with contact
information.
Photos
and inventory of my pieces
are added to this
website, when I have time
to produce art. If you
would like to commission
a piece, please
email me with those details.
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