Live at 9, The Great Hall and Conference Center in Germantown, Michelle East Artist

Today was so cool! I made my television debut on WREG Channel 3 Live at 9!
The hosts Marybeth Conley and Alex Coleman made me feel right at home on the set
at Peabody Place in downtown Memphis.  

 http://www.wreg.com/shows/liveat9/

Overall I think it went well as I explained my artwork and talked about my art show
at The Great Hall and Conference Center this Thursday evening. 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Big thank you to Chuck Porter, the Manger at The Great Hall and Conference Center
for coming with me this morning and helping me navigate downtown and get everything
set up for the show.

These are really fun days and I am so blessed to be doing what I love and celebrating it
with my community!

Till next time,

Live at 9 and The Great Hall and Conference Center in Germantown, Michelle East Artist

Wow! What a day I had today! Got up super early and heading down to The Great Hall and Conference Center in Germantown by 7:30 a.m. and got the Dunkin Donuts on the way! :)

The maintenance crew was there from the city of Germantown and began the process of hanging the 18 pieces of original art that will be up in the GHCC for a year.  I could not be any more pleased with the way the guys took special care of my work and reached for perfection as they put each piece of art on the wall.
It was exciting to see the transformation that the GHCC underwent as the art was installed. {Pictures to follow in a day or so.}

It took all day, but well worth every minute - I enjoyed hearing all of the comments of people passing by as the art went up. I think it was all positive comments from what I could hear!!  Even The Commercial Appeal came out, they photographed and interviewed me about the installation.  Should be in the paper by Thursday.

Tomorrow, I will be interviewed by Live at 9 on WREG Channel 3!  I am a little bit nervous but I spoke with one of the hosts Marybeth Conley and she has assured me that all will be fine.  One thing is for sure, I am in good hands with Marybeth and Alex on Live at 9 for my television debut!!

If you have not heard, there will be a special artist reception on this Thursday evening from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at The Great Hall and Conference Center. Please join me as I celebrate this occasion. Artwork will be available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds going to The Germantown Arts Alliance.

Till next time,

Michelle East Germantown Artist - Artwork for The Great Hall and Conference Center

Things are getting closer and even more exciting as I get the artwork all ready to be delivered to The Great Hall and Conference Center in Germantown today!

Yesterday I had a fun time promoting the art show at the Germantown Chamber of Commerce lunch held at the Germantown Country Club. Such a nice lunch, great key note speaker and a sold out event!
I shared a table with The Great Hall and Conference Center in order to get the word out about the show and the venue.

Here I am in front of the signature piece for the show - Southern Elegance. It is 30 x 40 on canvas!
I love this piece! It will be for sale at the art show on Thursday, Sept. 23rd from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Remember 20% of the proceeds go to The Germantown Arts Alliance. http://www.Germantownartsalliance.org
The Great Hall and Conference Center is located at 1900 Germantown Parkway, Germantown, TN.

Chuck Porter, Manager of The Great Hall and Conference Center. 

Give Chuck a call to book a wedding reception or meeting room for your business. 

901.751.7661  cporter@germantown-tn.gov

Till next time,

Michelle East on Live at 9 - WREG Channel 3

Please watch Live at 9 - WREG Channel 3 on Sept. 21st
at 9:00 a.m. for a live interview of how I create my artwork!
I am a little nervous so I need your prayers and support for this, my television debut!


If you watch live at nine, you will note how wonderful the hosts, Alex and Marybeth are. I know that I will be in good hands and they will guide me every step of the way!
  (The real question is, can I loose ten pounds by the 21st!)  LOL


To Find out more about Live at 9-
http://www.wreg.com/shows/liveat9/


Till next time,

Partnering with a Great Charity - Germantown Arts Alliance! Michelle East- Germantown Artist

I spent a fun day at the Germantown Festival today! It was great to see all of the vendors selling such wonderful and unique items! Most of the time I stayed at the Germantown Chamber of Commerce booth and spoke with people about the city and also about my work and upcoming art show.  It was a nice experience and I met some really nice people. We do have a great city!

I was thinking that it may be a good idea to blog about the charity, Germantown Arts Alliance, in which I will be donating a portion of my art sales to from the show on the 23rd of Sept.  I am very proud and excited to be working with a group such as this.

The History of  Germantown Arts Alliance 

        In 1987, the Germantown Board of Mayor and Aldermen established the Germantown Arts Commission for        the purpose of allocating funds from the City of Germantown for community arts organizations.  Included was a  long-range goal to make the Commission into an independent body within five years. 

In 1992, knowing that an autonomous non-profit organization could function more effectively than a government controlled agency in securing increased funding for the arts, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and a group of Germantown arts and civic leaders established the Germantown Arts Alliance.

Funding sources for the Germantown Arts Alliance have included the City of Germantown, Shelby County Government, Tennessee Arts Commission, Corporate Business and Individual Donors, Foundations and Fundraising Events.

What we do . . . 

The Germantown Arts Alliance is an 

advocacy and funding organization 

whose mission is to promote, enrich 

and celebrate the community's 

cultural arts environment. Our grants 

program has underwritten 

performances and special events 

reaching over 50,000 people of all 

ages in out community this past year. 

Why we do it . . . 

To serve our community's arts 

industry and advance support to 

enliven and envigorate every citizen 

through the arts. Our grants and 

sevices support not only professional 

artists but also the youngest, 

budding talent as well. 

How we do it . . . 

The Germantown Arts Alliance raises 

funds through private donations via 

our annual Arts and Humanities Gala 

in order to provide grants for our 

vibrant local art scene as well as for 

every local school. 

to our arts community as well as 

support our mission. 

Till next time,

Michelle East Germantown Artist in the Germantown News and Shelby Sun Times this week!

Exert from the Shelby Sun Times and Germantown News this week 09/09/10!!

First Great Art Show at The Great Hall and Conference Center

The works of local artist Michelle East will be on display at The Great Hall and Conference Center, 1900 South Germantown Road, beginning Thursday, September 23. Her work will be unveiled during a special reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

“We are pleased to bring The Great Hall and Conference Center’s First Great Art Show to the community,” said Chuck Porter, manager. “East’s art and photos will be for sale, with 20 percent of proceeds supporting the work of the Germantown Arts Alliance. “We encourage residents to drop in, view her amazing art and see what The Great Hall and Conference Center has to offer.”

East’s work, “Southern Elegance, Paintings and Photography,” will be on display for about one year. East, a Germantown resident, is an award-winning photographer, artist, business owner and mother of three who has been involved in art for most of her life. Her particular passion is creating fine art through photography, oil painting or a combination of the two. She works in many mediums including photography, oil, acrylic and digital art. Her work often features a fusion of mediums, creating unique and distinctive art.

East is an active participant in community service and often donates her work to many charitable causes. Her work hangs in private collections across the country and she has been featured in many local and national publications. In 2010, East’s work was chosen for inclusion in the collection at the new Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis.

For more information about The Great Hall and Conference Center’s First Great Art Show, contact Chuck Porter at 751-7661.

Till next time,

Michelle East Photography Studio Photography, Digital Paint, Oil Paint - My Creative Process

Happy Labor Day everyone! Hope you all are enjoying a relaying day!

I am busy this morning working out the final decisions for the last pieces of art for my solo show on the 

23rd of September. It will be held at The Great Hall and Conference Center in Germantown.  I just found out that it will remain up for at least a year!!

The opening is sure to be a fun night with live music by local Memphis musician Robert Nighthawk Tooms who will play the piano and harmonica!

The food will be catered by Heart and Soul catering http://www.heartsoulcatering.com, Memphis.  

My plan is to give a demonstration of how I paint digitally in the computer - I promise I won't talk for long!

For those of you who have asked for more information on how I create my art, here it goes!

There are four stages that I go through, the first being photography. My job as a professional photographer has taught me how to use top of the line equipment and trained my eye to see through the lens to compose and execute the starting photo for my art. 

After the photo session with my subject, weather that be a flower, landscape or person, I take the photos to my computer.  This is stage two where I work on the images in Photoshop CS5 and Corel Painter 11. Painting each stroke of the digital painting by my hand using an interactive monitor, the Wacom Cintique.  This allows me to emulate traditional painting inside my computer. 

Stage three is to have the painting printed on canvas using a professional printing lab.  Once the image is in physical form, I seal the canvas and then proceed to stage four and paint on top of my canvas using traditional Winsor Newton Oils, palette knife and brushes!

If you would like to learn this process you can go to my website http://www.paintfusion.com to find out more information regarding my teaching.  For interviews or more information regarding myself or my work just give me a call! 901.326.6074, I would love to talk to you!  or email me MichelleEastFineArt@live.com

Till next time,

Germantown Great Hall & Conference Center Art Show Michelle East

Hope to see you,

Germantown Great Hall & Conference Center Art Show Michelle East

I would love for you to join me on Sept. 23rd for my first solo art show!

The theme is Southern Elegance and the works include paintings of southern plantations homes from around Louisiana and Mississippi. There will also be florals - Iris, Magnolia, to name a few.

Light Refreshment.

Germantown Great Hall & Conference Center  

1900 S. Germantown Road

Germantown, Tennessee

A portion of the proceeds will go to the Germantown Arts Alliance. 

Giving back to our local schools for Art programs. http://www.germantownartsalliance.org.

All the best,

Michelle East Photography's work at the New Le Bonheur Children's Hospital

What a fabulous evening at the Art with Heart Party last night at the new Le Bonheur Children's Hospital located in downtown Memphis, Tn!
It was a privilege to be one of the 40 artists chosen to have their work featured in the permanent collection in the new hospital.
I am so humbled and thankful to be a part of this project.

So much fun to work on this for the kids at Le Bonheur!  The three pictures of the Emu animals will be a permanent installation on the 7th floor - the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit  (EMU).  The emu is mascot for this floor to both patients and staff!

The collaboration project with dollmaker and author Melissa Conroy, http://www.Wooberry.com,
is a permanent installation in the O. R.

If you would like to be a part of this special community event and underwrite a piece of artwork,
http://www.lebonheur.org/art.

Till next time,

Michelle East Photography's work at the New Le Bonheur Children's Hospital

Today my sweet friend Amber emailed me some pictures of my display at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital downtown Memphis. I have not had a chance to see the final work hung in the halls so the pictures are a great gift to me today!  I am so pleased with how it all came out!  This project started last year October of 2009 when I was asked to do some photography for the new hospital in collaboration with children's author Melissa Conroy. Melissa also makes custom dolls, the ones featured in the pictures, her site is www.wooberry.com.

In January of 2010 during a snow storm in Memphis, Melissa, Dianne Papasan and I met in my studio to do the initial photography for the project! Melissa was in town from her home in Philadelphia for a whirl wind weekend of book signing and to work on this Le Bonheur Children's Hospital project. She did an awesome job under the pressure of the terrible weather we were having and I was very impressed with her. She even allowed me to photograph her for her business head shots to be used in conjunction with her books!

Once the photographs were prepared to her specifications, I sent her the images and she added her additional artwork.  The images were then sent to the amazing staff at Le Bonheur who have spent countless hours working on the art for the hospital.

In the spring/summer the images were printed and hung and voila, there is an awesome wing in the hospital of these great wooberry dolls!  I know the children will be smiling as they travel this hallway!

Thank you so much to Dianne Papasan for the opportunity to be a part of this incredible project! I have enjoyed the entire process and it has been a privilege for me to be included on something as special as this for our community.

More to come on this project!

The Art for Heart Party is Thursday, the 26th of August in the evening. If you would like to see more of the wonderful artwork from artists all around the mid south, please join me there! It is going to be a magical night! You can purchase tickets at http://www.lebonheur.org  click on the Art with Heart tab.
(it will have an easel with a heart that say art with heart)

Hope to see you there!

Michelle East Photography Member of PPA Professional Photographers of America

 Did you know that I am a member of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA)?
From the PPA Website

Your family portraits, your children’s photos, your wedding pictures—they are all a part of your life's story and are your only visual record of the memories.

Shouldn't you use a professional photographer whose quality you can trust?   Correct posing and lighting, the ability to anticipate those once-in-a-lifetime moments can make all the difference in the visual record of your portraits.

Today, Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the world’s largest nonprofit association for professional photographers, with more than 20,000 members in 54 countries. This association seeks to increase its members’ business savvy as well as broaden their creative scope, advancing careers by providing all the tools for success...as they have since 1880.

Mission Statement
To be the leader in the dissemination of knowledge in the areas of professional business practices and creative image-making, and to define and maintain the industry’s standards of excellence.Vision Statement
To create a global perspective that promotes business first, creativity foremost and excellence always.


Just wanted you to know that I am a professional and part of the professional organization in my industry! I am not a fly by night start up company!  I am here and will continue to be as long as I have great customers like you!  Your children, your family and you - are why I do what I do!  I love seeing these little ones grow up. It is my privilege to document your lives 
in an artful way for you to reflect and remember these days gone by.


Please choose your photographer wisely.  There is much more to being a photographer than owning a camera!  :)


All the best of life,

Michelle East Photography's work at the New Le Bonheur Children's Hospital

Time	August 26 · 6:30pm - 9:30pm
Location	The New Le Bonheur Children's Hospital 50 N. Dunlap Street Memphis, TN
Created By	Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center
More Info	The region’s top artists lent their talent to make the new Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital a restorative and hopeful place. Now Memphians are invited to support the effort to heal children and families through art. For Art with Heart on Thursday, August 26, the Le Bonheur art collection will be on display for the first time and available for underwriting.

To purchase tickets and to learn more about the art available for underwriting, visit: www.lebonheur.org/art

The art in the new Le Bonheur was created around the themes of courage, compassion, hope and love. From quilts and mosaics to metalwork and photography, the new hospital provides children an opportunity to see and experience all types of art.


Please join me for a wonderful evening! I am so honored to be a part of this lovely event!

Till next time,

Michelle East Photography with Painter and Writer Karen Sperling

A great painter, author and teacher, Karen Sperling @  http://www.artistrymag.com asked to use one of my portraits as an example of her oil painting techniques. I am so flattered that she choose something that I photographed! 

Thank you Karen! It is an honor to work with you!

Original Portrait that I took:

Take a look at her blog-http://artistrymag.com/blog1

Karen's Painting:

Great detail Karen!

Painting by Karen Sperling from a photo by Michelle East.

Karen writes on her blog:

I used the techniques described in the Painting for Photographers DVD and the Artistry Bonus CD to paint this portrait, and I painted it with my custom brushes on the Artistry Bonus CD.

If you would like to have an original painting of your child, pet, family member, or yourself, please call me. I would love to work with you and so would Karen.

Till next time,

Michelle East – Portraits of Shelby County School’s Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Janey Jackson!-Memphis Photographer

Congratulations to my  friend Janey Jackson who was 

awarded 

the Shelby County Schools Teacher of the Year for the High 

School level! She has been teaching at Germantown High 

School for 14 years and with Shelby County for 23 years!  

These are a couple of the portraits I did for her last month to 

be used in press releases and such!

You are beautiful Janey- inside and out! Thank you for giving

so much to our community and our children!

Wishing you to go all the way- Tennessee Teacher of the 

Year!!!!

Travel Photographer, Fine Art Photography Michelle East Photography Studio

Of course you all know that I love to travel! So this month I visited historic Hot Springs and Little Rock Arkansas. Along the way we took some back roads and explored rural Arkansas. It was a great trip! I saw and photographed so many wonderful things! Arkansas is a beautiful state with a rich history.

The one and only Arlington! Since 1875 this hotel has hosted hundreds of balls and social events. Dignitaries,

politicians, actors, and prominent citizens have graced her doors…bathed in her Bath House…danced to her music and enjoyed her splendor, charm and beauty.  Today, guests from across the Nation and around the World bask in the colorful heritage of this grand southern hotel.

More of my travels to come! I have been so many places in the last 6 months that I have fallen behind in recording my journey on the blog.

October 2009 – San Francisco CA

March 2010 – Las Vegas NV

April 2010 – New York City NY

June 2010 – Montreal CANADA

July 2010 – Hot Springs and Little Rock AR

Life is a journey! Enjoy the ride!

Memphis Artist and Photographer Michelle East- Michelle East Photography

A new painting to show! I love this one of The Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, LA.

According to legend, this place is haunted! It has been featured on Oprah Winfrey and the most haunted houses TV show.

Thought you may like a look!