I Spy Learning Tree

I recently completed the "I Spy Learning Tree" for the Early Childhood Resource Center. Earlier this year, I conducted a workshop for 10 area preschool teachers on using paste paper paint techniques on fabric. The teachers then did the technique with their students and turned white fabric into colorful textured fabric, which I sewed together to create the branches on the tree. There will be cards with photos of the I Spy items that are hanging on the tree so that the preschoolers will have fun looking for and identifying the items on the tree.

Summit neighborhood mural

I am very excited to be working with Community Building Partnership to use art to help revitalize neighborhoods. Here is a mock up of the mural design superimposed on the wall that is to be painted soon. The explanation of the design is in the post below.

Coming soon!

Here is the mock up of the Summit neighborhood mural design that I will finally be starting when the weather breaks and the final seal is completed on the wall. The wall is 150 feet x 7 feet located on 10th street and Fulton Ave, by the Arts Academy at Summit. I will have help from the residents in the neighborhood and students from the Arts Academy at Summit--as well as any friends who feel like coming out and painting with me!

After discussions with different residents, I came up with this design that visually shows the concepts of transformation and renaissance that came up so frequently.

The design is a transition from macro to micro. The street grid of the neighborhood transforms into the houses of the community, which then transforms into the individual people that flourish with the arts.

I hope to start by the second week of May and finish by the end of June.

NEW Gift Sized Gallery area at Michele Waalkes ARTS!

I had such a fun time creating 5" x 5" compositions. Come on down to my studio and check them out...they are going fast!

Michele Walkes ARTS studio: from a different perspective

Here is another angle of our new studio space!! My artwork is the fiber and mixed media work which utilizes my own photography. The oil paintings are Lynn Digby's, my studio mate. If you are local, come check it out! The address is 2nd April galerie 324 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton, OH 44702.

Michele Waalkes ARTS Studio has Moved to the Main Floor of 2nd April galerie!

My studio-mate, Lynn Digby, and I recently moved our shared studio space to the main floor of 2nd April galerie. It is a great new space and I am very excited to be in it. Many thanks to Lynn and Paul Digby who did so much of the work to transform the space while I recovered from back surgery.

Microbiology C-

Microbiology C- is a piece I created out of fabric that I had batiked (a fabric dying process using wax as a resist). It is a fun piece that I made by playing around with using spheres. In the end, it reminds me of the whirlwind microbiology class I took years ago during an intensive summer class, in which I didn't do so well, thus the C-!

Size: (h x w) 57" x 25"
Media: Hand dyed, batiked cotton fabric
AVAILABLE