Michelle East, Fine Art and Portraits, Tools of the Trade Part 2!

Today I want to share with you the software that I use to create stunning portraits and fine art.


Everyday of my life practically, I use Adobe Photoshop!  It is a must have for photo editing.
I use Photoshop CS5 for all my work but if you are starting out, I recommend Adobe Photoshop Elements 10. This is a great program to introduce you to the photo editing world and it is fairly inexpensive.  Once you have a need for more Photoshop power, you can easily transition into Adobe Photoshop CS 5. 
http://www.photoshop.com/

When I want to step my work up a notch into a digital painting, I go to my second favorite software program, Corel Painter 12.  

Corel® Painter™ 12 is professional digital art software that is designed for artists by artists.
This powerful digital painting studio comes with hundreds of brushes and dozens of paper textures, watercolors, paints, oils and pastels. Its compatibility with Wacom® tablets, and combination of inventive Natural-Media® tools, pressure-sensitive brushes and virtually unlimited customization options, give you total freedom for creative expression.

• RealBristle™ brushes & Wacom® tablet support deliver the most realistic painting experience

• Adobe® Photoshop® support preserves colors and layers
• New Kaleidoscope painting creates electrifying patterns and colors like no other digital art tool
• New Mirror painting saves time when painting symmetrical objects
• New Real Watercolor tools blend and dry more realistically than any other watercolor brush
• New Real Wet Oil tools deliver the most realistic colors and textures
• Inventive photo-painting tools blur the boundaries between photo and painted image.http://www.corel.com
  I sincerely hope  you have enjoyed learning about the tools I use as a professional artist and photographer.  Let me know how you are progressing and if this has helped you in your creative journey.
  

  Till next time.

Michelle East, Fine Art and Portrait Photographer, My Favorite Tools of the Trade!

Today I thought I would post about a few of my favorite things!  

This is the Cintique. A pressure sensitive monitor that I use to create much of my fine art work. They also make tablet which I use as well. Intuos is my favorite tablet! Find them all at the Wacom website~

http://www.wacom.com




Love the imac from Apple! Yes, this is what I do all of my creative computer work on.

I purchased my imac from the Germantown,TN Apple store but you can also get your at the Apple website~

http://www.apple.com

Another favorite of mine are the Nikon Cameras. Read reviews and order at~ http://www.Nikon.com.

And of course you should always buy the best lens that you can afford!

If you would like to see my fine art photography work, I have a one woman exhibition at GPAC until Sunday. Please feel free to stop by and see it before it comes down.  Would love your feedback on my work.

Hope you enjoyed this blog about my favorite things in photography!

Till next time,

The Olive Tree Artisan Gallery, Michelle East, Artist of the Month, Cordova, Tn

Many thanks to Barbara Olive, owner of The Olive Tree Artisan Gallery in Cordova, Tn. She has chosen me as artist of the month for the gallery. It is a pleasure having my work on display at The Olive Tree Artisan Gallery.  If you have not seen the gallery yet, stop by at

 70 Timber Creek Dr, Cordova, Tn ~ 901.343-0320.

Or online at:

http://olivetreeartisangallery.com

To view my work online~

http://www.michelleeaststudio.com

Wishing you all the best and most beautiful that life has to offer,

Germantown Performing Arts Centre, GPAC, Art Show, Michelle East

Germantown Performing Arts Centre is hosting me as a feature artist and I am so privileged. 34 pieces of my artwork were hung on Monday at GPAC.
Above is a sample of what you will see when you visit.
I would be honored if you came to my reception on Feb. 17th from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. It is free and open to the public. There will be light appetizers by Zipparo's Catering.
Please stop in if only for a little while. It would be my pleasure to meet you and have you see my work.

Till then,

Tea Party for Le Bonheur Children's Hospital

Support a great cause with a fun event! I did. I donated a piece of my artwork for the silent auction! 

Come celebrate an afternoon of sweet treats at the 3rd annual GenerosiTEA for all moms and girls!

February 18, 2012

11:00 am - 1:00 pm, Woodland Hills Event Center

Join in the fun at the third annual GenerosiTEA benefitting Le Bonheur Children's Hospital.  Enjoy making memories at this special event featuring a fashion showcase for small girls to young teens, activity stations, silent auction and "tea market" with multiple vendors for any girl's shopping delight! 

Photography available. $40/couple. Sponsor tables still available.

For more information, call (901) 287-6308.


Much love to the children and their families at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. XXOO

Please join me for the opening reception of my art exhibit on Friday, Feb. 17th from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Germantown Performing Arts Centre.

I would be extremely grateful to meet you, please introduce yourself if we have not had the pleasure of meeting before. If we are old friends, new friends, family or neighbors, I value your presence at this event.  

The event if free and open to the public. 

Light hors d'oeuvres offered by Zipparo's catering.

See you then,

Proud to Announce My Solo Art Show at Germantown Performing Arts Center

MICHELLE EAST BRINGS “RHYTHMICITY” EXHIBIT TO GPAC

“Rhythmicity: Rhythms In Our World “ an exhibit featuring artwork by Michelle East will be on display in the GPAC Lobby Gallery from February 6 through March 2. 

A special artist's reception will be held on Friday, February 17 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. The reception is open to the public.

WHAT: Art Exhibit by Michelle East 

“Rhythmicity:

 Rhythms In Our World”

WHEN: Monday, February 6, 2012 through Friday, March 2, 2012

*Artist’s Reception on Friday, February 17 from 5:00-7:00 p.m.*

TICKETS: Exhibit is free and open to the public.  Hours are Monday – Friday between 

10 a.m. and 5 p.m. and evenings of GPAC performances.

WHERE: Germantown Performing Arts Centre

1801 Exeter Road

Germantown, TN 38138

CONTACT: For more information or to arrange an interview with the artist(s), please contact Patricia Cooper at (901) 751-5726.

IMAGES: See attached

ARTIST 

BIO: See below

ARTIST WEB:   www.MichelleEastStudio.com

Artist’s Bio:

Award winning artist and mother of three, Michelle East has been involved in creating art for most of her life. Currently she produces lifestyle portraiture and fine art work with a warm, glowing and often times mysterious quality.  Michelle is represented by Fountain Art Gallery in Memphis, TN and Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ.

Photography, oil paint, collage and digital art are all mediums that Michelle enjoys working with in order to achieve her final piece. She takes inspiration from the beauty our world has to offer and keeps her perspective fresh with travel.  Visiting thirty eight states including Alaska and Hawaii, and six countries, Michelle loves to include secret elements in her work that only a new location can bring.

Live at Nine, WREG News Channel 3 Memphis with Marybeth Conley and Alex Coleman, interviewed Michelle about her unique process of creating art in 2010.  In an effort to raise local awareness of breast cancer, Michelle was interviewed again in 2011 on Live at Nine discussing her breast cancer survivor portrait series. In this project, Michelle partnered with Baptist Women's Hospital and the Germantown Community Theatre photographing and featuring nine women in the Memphis community who are breast cancer survivors in order to put a face with the disease.

Michelle has exhibited her art at numerous venues across the mid-south including the Germantown Performing Arts Centre, the Great Hall and Conference Center in Germantown, TN, the Memphis Botanic Garden and the Wings Cancer Foundation located within the West Clinic in Memphis, TN.  Her work hangs in private collections across the country and she has been featured in many local and national publications. Included in the permanent collection at the new Le Bonheur Children's Hospital located in downtown Memphis, Tn. Michelle's work can be seen on the 7th floor in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, the first floor reception area and in the O. R.   As an active participant in the community, Michelle donates her work to many charitable causes including the Memphis Children's Museum, Shelby Farms and local schools.  She is a member of the Germantown Chamber of Commerce.

Education includes a B.S.B.A. in Finance from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, a certificate from New York Institute of Photography and Michelle is currently working toward her M. B. A. at Union University in Germantown, TN.  She has attended numerous workshops around the country learning art from respected instructors in creative environments. 

So excited to share this exhibit with all of you!
Please come join me at the reception Friday, Feb. 17th 5-7 at Germantown Performing Arts Center in Germantown, TN!

"Sway" by Amber Turner, Disney Hyperion Books, Michelle East Photography

So excited for my friend Amber Turner who has her first children's book available from Disney Hyperion Books!  Way to go Amber!

If you look closely, you can see a picture of Amber and notice my name on the side! Yes, I took this picture and I'm thrilled to have it on a book jacket! Thank you Amber for adding my name and using one of my images.

Be on the lookout for "Sway" it will be a great read for the child in your life!

Till next time,

Memphis Botanic Garden, Incognito Art Gala, Michelle East

January 2012 at Memphis Botanic Garden

80 Mid-South artists create a collection of unsigned works

Art Gala & Silent Auction

Friday, January 20th

6-8 p.m.

Music by Rene Koopman & Tom Prestigiacomo

Quick Sale "buy-it-now" time from 6:30-7:00

Silent Auction bidding throughout the event

Hors d'oeuvres by

Bid on what you love, not who you know!

Reservations required, call 636-4131.

MBG members $25

Non-members $35

Tickets include silent auction, Quick-Sale, live music, hors d'oeuvres & two drink tickets. Cash bar available.

Presented by

   

Memphis Botanic Garden

750 Cherry Road, Memphis, TN  38117

901.636-4100

memphisbotanicgarden.com

Please join me for a brilliant evening of fun while you try and guess which work of art I made!
Till next time,

Living a Grateful Life, Michelle East, Memphis Artist

Living a Grateful Life at Christmas and Always

What are you grateful for?  We are so blessed in this life. Just being alive is a monumental gift each day. My hope is that during this time of Christmas, Hanukkah, & New Years, that you take time to reflect on what you have to be grateful for, rather than what you do not have materially compared to other people.

Ever realize how we always look to the ones that have more than us and compare our situation to theirs? Does that make you feel discontent? It does in my heart. What would it be like if we compared our selves to those who live in the homeless shelters, who don't have a coat, hat or gloves, who take the bus, who live in poverty?
Now who is fortunate?  Me, You.  Our kids. Our friends. Our family.

Try making a list like this.....

I am grateful for the following:

~Thank you to God for challenging me, loving me, guiding me, never forsaking me and giving me the gift of life!

~Thank you to my three beautiful children who have brought endless joy and happiness into my life.

~Thank you to my parents who have never wavered in their unconditional love for me. 

~Thank you to my friends for your support and love.

~Thank you to my fellow artists & photographers for surrounding my life with inspiration and camaraderie.

~Thank you to my business colleagues who believe in and support my artistic endeavors.

~Thank you to my new shorkie puppy and beautiful persian cat who never allow me to be lonely.

~Thank you to all of you who enjoy this blog, my art and musings.

~ Thank you that I went through a biopsy in November and the results were no cancer!

The experience was one that I am grateful for because it opened my eyes to what so many women in the world go through when battling cancer.

Some Quotes on Gratitude~

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?”
~William A. Ward

Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.
~G.B. Stern

The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.
~John E. Southard

Gratitude is the best attitude.
~Author Unknown

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.
~Cynthia Ozick

When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?
~George Canning

Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.
~Alfred Painter:

When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.
~Chinese Proverb

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
~William Arthur Ward

When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.
~Tony Robbins

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
~Albert Schweitzer:

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. ~Cicero

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.
~H.U. Westermayer

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
~John F Kennedy

Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.
~LeRoy Paige

If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice.
~Meister Eckhart

There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.
~Seneca

Till next time,

Memphis has Beautiful Kids!, Michelle East Photography

Wrapping up the last of the 2011 portrait year with this beautiful baby girl. She is only 4 weeks old and rocked the photo session!  I don't think she cried once.  She was alert and attentive to what we were doing and gave me fantastic eye contact.  Wonderful note to end the year on!

Thank you to all of my past and present clients. I dearly appreciate each of you for sharing your family with me. I am thankful to have been able to use my gifts to capture these once in a lifetime moments with your little ones.

Merry Christmas!