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| Inspiral Silks Studio: Artist: Melanie Habets - (www.melaniehabets.com) |
| I work alone designing and painting each
piece individually in my home studio. All my work is painted with high quality paints and dyes formulated specifically for silk. After I stretch and paint the silk, I then steam it at high temperatures to set the color into the fabric. It is then completely colorfast and can be washed and dried. I then sew my paintings into wearable art such as scarves, shawls and sarongs or alternately into home décor items including throw pillows, duvet covers and dressing screens. |
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| I use a variety of techniques when painting including some gleaned from my previous experience working with watercolors and veil painting. I try to bring a sense of depth and texture to my paintings through my use of color and negative space.In 1999 Melanie Habets began preparation for a change of course. Her path up to that point had led her to what she felt to be the very important job of working with young children. Though she still strongly believed in the work she was doing she found herself being pulled in a new and vastly different direction. Having finished the teaching year, she said goodbye to her comfortable and settled life in order to follow her dream of traveling the world. With only the packs upon their backs and a spirit of adventure, she and her husband Chad spent 10 months making their way around the globe, traveling through Europe, the Middle East and India. Through her travel experience Melanie gathered courage and inspiration and upon her return she decided to pursue another lifelong dream, the dream of sharing her art with the world. (208) 610-108 | |
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| Melanie's lifelong passion for
and practice of art had led her to use her time at university to experiment
with every artistic medium she could get her hands on. These included
sculpture, ceramics, photography, drawing and painting. Her classical
art training was enhanced when while attending Waldorf teacher training
she was introduced to another way of perceiving art. There she learned
to view, practice, and experience art from an esoteric perspective.
Most recently Melanie has been applying her talents and creative spark to the art of silk painting attempting to stretch the boundaries of the medium whenever possible. The process of making and painting on silk is steeped in thousands of years of history and yet, through advances in the materials, still offers new possibilities and riddles to be unraveled. Melanie has been an avid seamstress and designer since the age of six when she found the available wardrobes possibilities for her dolls lacking a certain flair. She loves working with silk because of its versatility, incredible luminescent quality and the possible functionality of each piece she creates. She currently resides with Chad in beautiful northern Idaho and is constantly receiving inspiration for her painting from the natural world. She displays in local and regional galleries and has traveled to fine art shows and festivals throughout the northwest. |
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