another.realm's photostream  

I am absolutely driven by creativity with a capital C. It's in my genes. It's how my brain works. My friend, Nina defines this condition as "Obsessive Creative". I was born to make art, create beauty and inspire Creativity in others.
I definitely inherited this from my mother who was a seamstress and sweater designer and a Domestic Goddess in the highest sense of the term. I spent many childhood hours playing on the kitchen floor near my mother while she sewed. And well...I guess it stuck. I've been making things for as long as I can remember.
I have a double BA in Studio Art and Women's Literature/Creative Writing. I did my art thesis on the textile arts of Hmong Women from Laos. In 1988 I was awarded a Fulbright grant to study traditional textiles in Nigeria. I lived there for 15 months and also traveled to Kenya and Uganda for 2 months. I've written 2 published articles on my quilts. I taught classes and workshops in quiltmaking/crazy quilts, paper arts and calligraphy. I worked for many years as a floral designer and also was a catering artist/food designer/party and event planner.
But all this is ancient history really. Health challenges have put a major damper on my dreams of continued world travel, publishing and teaching. I'm now very reclusive and an advocate for 'slow living' and 'the art of Being'. I spend the "good hours" of my days making whatever I can.
I Love the worldwide comraderie of Flickr art and photography groups. It reminds me of the very best of my college art class days. My exchanges with Flickr friends keep me going, even when I'm in so much pain I'd just like to throw in the towel and call it quits, the common thread of creative inspiration and discovery pulls me to engage in the making of another piece and then another.
Some of my work is available on etsy at:

www.anotherrealm.etsy.com

I'm on facebook @:
www.facebook.com/people/Jeanne-Marie-​Mellor
(note: if you friend me on facebook, tell me who you are and that you are on flickr)



p.s. A Big Pet-Peave of Mine: I get very annoyed with people who habitually favorite my photos without comments or introductions. A person's photostream is their virtual gallery and home. Habitual favoriting without comment or introduction is like going into their backyard and raiding their flower garden. Behind every photo is the person who created the work and shot the photo. Everybody likes feedback and comments and feeling they are part of a community--in this case the fantastically creative community on flickr. Please don't abuse your photo-sharing privileges. It doesn't reap creative comraderie when members don't take the time to be kind to each other. These little minutes of time do make a difference.