A long time ago I was contacted by Mary Ann Wald of DreamPainters, and let’s face it, despite my best intentions of updating this site very regularly I haven’t done so in practice for a variety of reasons. Well, I said getting featured on ArtHouseMouse is easy, but I didn’t offer a time frame for it.

I’m sorry for the delay in posting, but as promised and without further adieu, here is the feature for DreamPainters, Mary Ann and Sami!

DreamPainters, All About Art is a small, but well known studio in Ocean Springs Mississippi. You can find it on Government St. by traveling south off of exit 50, until things get pretty, then turning left.

Mary Ann describes the history of her husband and herself and their art career.

My husband Sami and I have both been painting since we were children. Me in the Northeast part of Ms. as a child and later as a model and working artist in Malibu California. My husband came to the US at the invitation of President Reagan to work with the CIA and other anti Terrorist Organizations with in the FBI and the counter terrioism program. We met and found a love of  painting and a way of life that relieved much of the stress of his job and our travels.We are in our late sixtys now and still enjoy it just as we did in the beginning.
Elaine Stevens began introducing  me to work within different chaity auctions at the I.P. and that really set us in a new standard of recognition. Todd Trenchard of M&M Bank also invited us and did articles for his group with Bacot McCarty. Over the last few years we have sold many items to private home owners that we looking for that one original  perfect peice that they could help design and resturants who needed   items that would become their internationally recognized logo.

We have been blessed.
My website is small and very  nondescript but if you would go to the archive of Artbeat by Elaine Stevens and scroll down to Dreampainters you can see  who we are and how proud we are to be a part of the art groups in Mississippi.

You can also check out their work on Facebook.

Barbara Samples was born in Zion Illinois February 13, 1962 and moved to Northeast MS shortly there after to spend her childhood. She began drawing at an early age and was fascinated with art of any genre.
This self taught artist has an eclectic taste in music and art. She loves some music of all genres but not all music of all genres! Jazz, Soul, Blues and Rock can be heard coming from her studio as she is busy painting in Biloxi, Ms just a short walk from the beach.

Barbara is a recent transplant to Biloxi from Baldwyn, Ms. The call of the Ocean and the Gulf breeze were to much for this Mississippi native to resist. She can be seen walking in the Gulf waters, taking pictures, or just sitting watching the waves waiting for the spectacular sunsets that we have here. to give her inspiration for her paintings.
Barbara taught herself to draw and paint by seeing with an artists eyes. Most people don’t see what they are looking at. The way a shadow falls, the way a color changes, the curve of a child’s cheek these are things we see everyday but only look at not really see.

Books are a great love for her and at the age of 13 she had read every book in the local library with the exception of the encyclopedia. which she had at home.
She still loves book and has the beginnings of restoring her library that was lost along with everything she owned when her home burned a few years ago. This event and being in a head-on collision with a drunk driver changed her life.
After losing everything but the clothes on her back (including her art supplies and paintings), she gave up painting for years. Coming to the Mississippi Gulf coast with her father, brother, (who is also a very talented artist), and fiance to buy seafood, inspired her to try to paint again. She and her fiance Jeff Anderson loved the coast so much they moved here. She now paints in her studio daily drawing inspiration from her family, friends, and of course our beautiful Gulf Coast!

You can contact Barbara through her facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Barbara-Samples-Artist/178079828891817.

Sarah Gramelspacher is a freelance illustrator from Louisiana. Her recent work, “Unnatural Miscellany” has a definite Steampunk edge and is being featured in a group showing with the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center, which you can read more about here.

Her work in “Unnatural Miscellany” has a  macabre tone throughout, but also has a certain sense of whimsy.

Q. How old are you?
A. 27

Q.Were you born and raised here or elsewhere?
A. Born in Baton Rouge and have lived in and around the New Orleans area all my life.

Q.What musical acts(if any) keep you going?
A.Music is a huge part of my life.  Beck, The White Stripes, and The Hives dominate my iPod, but then there are a handful of local acts who I listen to a lot.  My husband plays bass in a couple of bands, so I’m always out at shows getting exposed to up-and-coming local talent, and a few of them have earned permanent spots in my personal playlist.  When I’m working though, lately I’ve been listening to more ethereal stuff like The Yoshida Brothers and Raphael Beau (Micmacs Soundtrack).  Then there’s always The Decemberists, who I love, but more importantly, who I get loads of inspiration from as they incorporate so much folklore and storytelling into their music.  My pieces Charlotte and The Whores and the Hounds are actually inspired by some of their lyrics.

Q.What movies (if any ) never get old to you?
A. Anything by Wes Anderson.  Also: Snatch, Fight Club, & Amelie.

Q. Tell us about a character building event in your life that has helped you become who you are today.
A. Recently I went to law school for one semester.  Anyone who knows me will tell you that that move was completely out of left field for me, but after graduating college with an art degree I felt like I still had something to prove academically.  I learned not only that I have what it takes to do the academic part, but also that just because you have the potential to succeed in one thing, it is your CHOICES that define you, not your latent abilities.  (Or maybe I learned that from Harry Potter?? O.o)  At any rate, I learned a ton about myself, and that my place is in the arts, despite what other things I might be capable of.  I left after completing 16 credit hours, but I learned that quitting is not necessarily failure.

Q. Do you do any work in other mediums?

A.I specialized in painting in college, and I still do some paintings (acrylic) from time to time.  Lately I’ve been experimenting with watercolor a bit, and trying to wrap my brain around this digital stuff that’s so hip with the kids these days; but my first love is graphite, and I think I’ll always be most comfortable with a pencil in my hand.

Q.How long have you been creating?
A.Literally as long as I can remember.

Q.Which artists do you feel you take the most inspiration from or admire?
A.This is really hard; I hate to leave anyone out.  Edward Gorey is my absolute art hero of all time, hands down.  At the moment, I’m into all these west-coast artists who derive a lot from comics and graffiti and skateboard graphics and such, like Greg Simkins, Jeremy Fish, Buff Monster, and Brandi Milne.

Q.What do you feel gravitated you towards the arts?
A.It’s just a natural thing for me.  I’ve always been drawing, my family is full of creative people, and there has never been a time in my life when I wasn’t really active in visual arts or dancing or music or something creative.  It’s like breathing.

Q.Where was your work first exposed to the public?

A.It’s been online (deviantArt) for five years now, but other than that I’ve only done a couple of obscure (and admittedly lame) group shows.  I’m really focused on trying to get more exposure at the moment.

Q.What message (if any) do you try to convey in your work?
A.I’m not a fan of messages in art.  If anything, I hope that my art tells people that I don’t take myself or my art too seriously.

Q.What feeling do you feel your work gives to the audience?
A.This sort of ties in to the last question: I hope my work makes people smile, even though it can tend towards the dark and the macabre.  If I hear words like “cute”, “creepy”, “bizarre”, or even “ew” used to describe my work; I’m happy.

Sarah Gramelspacher can be contacted at pishposh.art@gmail.com or either of her two websites www.thepishposh.com and http://sacreliciousblog.blogspot.com. You can “Like” her page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pishposhart

John Isiah Walton is powered to prove that even a traditional visual artist
could survive in this digital media age. John is a native of New Orleans, La.
He began drawing at the age of 5 years old, through time he would fight his
way through to be better than his classmates throughout his whole life.

John would go on to continue his education at Delgado Community College
where his love for painting blossomed. He first encountered his love for painting
from taking art history, seeing all of the master works from all periods landed him
to take painting classes at the Delgado West Bank campus. Being trained by
Walter F. Johnson, John was destined to become prolific to try and impress his
teacher, being that his teacher had trained many well known artists throughout
the country.

The events in John’s life brought him in contact to meet Bruce
Davenport Jr. who gave him his first taste at being a professional artist; it
is now up to faith and good art to bring his work to the masses.

John has had several showings around New Orleans. The most recent being
“The Gumbo Group Show” at the Homespace Gallery.

John ‘s contact information can be found on his website at VirtualIsiah.com

I met Jared at the Ocean Springs Art Walk a few months ago. Between numerous musical projects and his paintings and drawings, saying he stays busy is a serious understatement.  I’m amazed he has the energy or time to do much else.

Q.Were you born and raised here or elsewhere?
A.Born in Ocean Springs currently live in Gulfport.

Q.Please tell us a little bit about your art.
A.It ranges from bright and cute to dark and morbid just depending on my
desire to paint. My style has more in common with tattoo flash and
graphic novels than the classics in the art world, though I’m a fan of
them as well.

Q.Do you do any work in other mediums?
A.Acrylic mainly but I do a lot of inkwork which is mainly for band
commissions like covers and shirts and whatnot.

Q.How long have you been creating?
A.I’ve been drawing since I was 4 and have up till I was around 20.
then I pretty much stopped cause I was busy with music and picked it
back up with painting when I was 24 since I had much more free time
thanks to the storm.

Q.Which artists do you feel you take the most inspiration from or admire?
A.Salvador Dali, MC Escher are the two main ones. though I don’t think
either really shows through with my work. I’m also rather horrible
with names but there are far more influences than them.

Q.What do you feel gravitated you towards the arts?
A.I feel a desire to create. I’d like to leave something behind after
I’m gone so that someone might remember that I existed. This is how I
chose to do so.

Q.Where was your work first exposed to the public?
A.I know I had a piece that was a collection of bones that I painted in
watercolor back in the 5th grade. it was put in those art shows they
have at the mall. i didn’t personally see it there but i did sell
thanks to that. Not sure what happened to it after that, i was told it
was a doctor who wanted it for his waiting room and actually wanted me
to recreate it on canvas with oil or acrylic. I can’t really remember
why that didn’t take place.

If you’d like to get in contact with Jared Moran for his art you can get him from either of his Myspace pages.

http://www.myspace.com/shaolinlambkiller

http://www.myspace.com/cavepaints

Musical work

I guess a little back ground, I’m self taught on guitar(14 years),
bass(14 years), and drums(9 years), and I do quite a bit of vocals.
I’ve been playing in assorted bands on the coast for around a decade.
I’ve been open to all forms of music since very young, when I first
actively started picking music to listen to I only really listened to
classical. Then on i moved to distorted guitar. I say this mainly
because there wasn’t really a move into like alternative or classic
rock to metal or anything. it was kinda all at once. i was fasinated
with just the sound that could be created with a guitar. I saved up my
money and bought a guitar when I was 16 and a bass later that year. I
didn’t get a drum kit till I was 19 but didn’t actually start playing
it seriously till I was 20.

Most people have known me from Recovery Period (bass, vocals),
Seppuku(drums), Driven By Suffering(bass/guitar), and the
Nautilus(drums).  None of these really have anything for sale they all
pretty much ran their course as well.

And this is what I’m currently involved with a lot of these bands are
either going to be me and one other person or just me cause I have
slowly found through the years that it’s so much simplier that way

54R- all encompassing grind band. I write all the music and perform
all on recording
http://www.myspace.com/54rgrind

the men behind the sun- drums & vocals. odd power violence/grind band.
http://www.myspace.com/themenbehindthesun

Filtheater- old school death metal. I wrote and performed everything,
though it’s not actually known that it’s just one person. I have
presented it as a full band to greater success due to that.
http://www.myspace.com/filtheaterband

Zombie Raiders- old school death/grind. writing all the music and
playing guitar, bass & vocals. I just joined this band so the first 3
songs are the ones with my work on it.
http://www.myspace.com/zombieraiders

I guess I’ll stop with these bands because those are the 4 that have
things for sale and my work up on the sites to listen to. but I’m also
part of quite a few more
Hommel- drums. death metal.
Immaculate Molestation- all instruments. death metal
Coffin Terror- drums. death metal
Crawl- drums. death metal
Shokushu Goukan- all instruments. grind/death
RAUM- vocals, bass. http://www.myspace.com/raumdoom this has a demo up
Eats Aids- odd deathgrind
Ithaqua- guitars&bass. funeral doom
Bionic Hammer- drums. death metal
Demense- bass, vocals. death metal
Cosmic Atrophy- drums. death metal
Uzumaki- everything. atonal death metal.
Old Woman With No Teeth- drums, guitar. freejazz grind
pecker parade- drums. grind
Kamakazi Pilots- probably everything depends on a guitarist commitment or not
Lusitania-bass & vocals. Doom
Roach Patrol- guitar & vocals. power violence
Rejected Flesh- everything. death metal

I think that just about covers it. lol seems like a lot but it’s all
balances out when I’m not working on one I’m working on another. I’m
used to practicing with multiple bands 7 times a week up to 8 hours a
day. and that was with working 2 jobs and going to school. So this is
actually a very light load nowadays.

Encrypted Nomad is a guitar rock duo composed of Mike Hamel and Bobby Revell. They have been playing guitar together since college. Now, after years of work, they are recording their first album together. Taking their direction into guitar rock instrumentals, they blend multiple genres with strong song writing abilities. Though the songs have no vocals, their melodic guitar riffs and true song oriented approach have attracted listeners of all styles of music. They write, arrange, and record all their own music including all drums and bass guitars. They do it all themselves. Hear them shine on their upcoming album.

Bobby Revell has been playing guitar since age seven. He is a guitar design engineer who has built guitars for guitarists such as Eddie Van Halen (helping design the WolfGang Guitars from the very beginning), Michael Wilton (Queesryche), and Brian Bromberg (Jazz bass legend). Bobby plays his own handmade guitars. He continues to amaze listeners from all over with his powerful musicianship and is studying jazz along with rock and many other genres.

Mike Hamel has written more than 60 songs, including both vocal oriented and instrumental compositions. He has worked as a professional audio video engineer and studio musician, performing both guitar and bass on recordings. This is his fourth serious recording project and thus far his best. Mike is well known for his song writing and arrangements as well as the digital recording process. His guitar style is based on and built around good solid songs, and is known for his quirky, highly melodic guitar style.

The duo has been featured on garageband.com with Track of the day for their songs “The Lion’s Hammer”, “Sexica Lane” and “Warm Vibe”. They were awarded Best Guitars of the week for the song “Not Even Close” by the reviewers of Garageband.com. Garageband.com is part of the ilike.com network, but you can find Encrypted Nomad here.

Encrypted Nomad has been included on Rise Up, Vol.6 which was released on 09/21/10. You can help Encrypted Nomad complete its first CD by purchasing the “Rise UP Vol 6″ CD directly from Mike Hamel just look him up on facebook.   The Encrypted Nomad page on Facebook can be found here. You can also purchase the album from amazon.

You can also check them out on ReverbNation and Myspace.

Two often overlooked elements of art are Tattooing and Graffiti. Both incorporate the exact same elements of design and use of negative space as fine art and for many of the modern movements in fine art, they serve as the foundation element for the styles.  Both Graffiti and Tattooing are very rich subcultures that make up the urban landscape of America. Legal walls for Graffiti writers are popping up all around the country, business owners are recognizing the beauty of the art and allowing murals to be painted on their business walls. It’s only natural that a Graffiti writer would gravitate towards design as a career. The attention to typography, color and use of space in an uncontrolled environment are essential to their art. Today’s featured artist has done just that and incorporated his love for Graffiti writing into graphic design.

Q.How old are you?
A.29

Q.Were you born and raised here or elsewhere?
A. I was born in Gulfport, MS.  I was raised in Bay St. Louis.

Q.Tell us about a character building event in your life that has helped you become who you are today as an artist.
A. There have been a lot of events that have changed my life.  I was in a car accident at the age of twenty-three.  I was thrown through the windshield and returned back into the crumbling car.  I suffered countless injuries.  Before this tragedy, I had a regular practice of drawing and painting.  I never thought I was destined to do anything with it.  After my car accident, I decided to pursue a career in the art world.  I’m not much of a religious man, but I know someone was watching over me that night when my car tore to pieces.  God had given me a second chance.  He felt that I had something to give.  I felt as if the only talent I could give was my art.  After physical rehabilitation and getting back on my feet, I enrolled in the Memphis College of Art.  I’ve been doing what I love ever since.  I hope others enjoy it as much as I do.

Please tell us a little bit about your art.

Q.Do you do any work in other mediums?
A. I try to work with a little bit of everything.  I love oils.  I love aerosols and everything in-between.  I’ve done pieces using crumbled newspapers and charcoal.  I love experimenting.  Sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t.  Every now and then you will accidentally make something beautiful.  It never hurts to try.

Q.How long have you been creating?
A. I can’t remember the actual age.  I can tell you that I would analyze cartoons as I watched.  “How can I draw papa smurf?”, “Why when I draw the Mystery Machine, it always looks flat?”  Creating started at a very young age.  My family was always encouraging.  My parents would buy me paint sets (the ridiculous Crayola watercolor trays where each color would overflow into the next.)
I began creating early as a way to express myself.  Sometimes it’s easier to create than to talk.

Q.Which artists do you feel you take the most inspiration from or admire?
A.I hate to be cliché, but I’ve always enjoyed Salvador Dali’s surrealist work.  I’ve been inspired from animators such as Otto Messmer to architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and I.M. Pei.  Banksy is one of my favorite street artists out there.  I try to find inspiration from every artist.  My seven year old niece inspires me.  Her drawing is quite impressive.  You can find your muse in anyone.

Q.What do you feel gravitated you towards the arts?
A. I like to make stuff look pretty.  No, no, no.  I want things to be designed well and have some sort of concept.  My family is very artistic.  They handed me a little of their knowledge.  Bottom line, art is one thing that has always made me happy.  If people thought my art was horrible, I would still do it.  It’s something I do for me.  If I can make money from it, that’s an added bonus.  If it makes other people happy, that’s great.

Q.Where was your work first exposed to the public?
A.In high school.  A buddy and I started the first art club at our school.  My teacher wanted me to do a watercolor piece of the resurrection.  It was a catholic school.  This would be the first painting submitted into the art club “hall.”  I worked hard on that painting and it made it into the Sea Coast Echo.  I was stoked.

Q.What message (if any) do you try to convey in your work?
A. A lot of my work is art done for art’s sake.  Some of my pieces are just for visual appeal.  I like to throw some type of concept into my work though.  For example, the street art pieces take on a new meaning for me.  I see these old decrepit areas as being beautiful.  These are places that are run down and considered a nuisance to the city.  No one looks at the beautiful architecture and the actual potential for the rebirth of this old office building or train depot.  I like to bring attention to these structures by throwing a splash of color on them.  It isn’t the scary part of town.  It’s a part of town that should be rebuilt while preserving its natural elements.

Q.What feeling do you feel your work gives to the audience?
A.I have no idea.  I just hope they feel something.  Hopefully on a positive note.

Q.How do you think your street art has helped you as a graphic designer?
A.Fun Fact:  Most graff artists have a day job as graphic designers.  Actually, graphic design has helped my street art.  In design, you are taught everything from layouts to typography.  Before design, I was just painting my name in the center of a bare wall.  I have to think about my entire space as a whole.  How does this broken out window vibe with this typography and so on.  They are two very different art forms but they meld together quite nicely.  I love them both the same and each one compliments the other.

You can contact Jason at his email address platz_jason37@yahoo.com or on Facebook.

Today I am featuring Camille Barnes from New Orleans. Camille studied at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art and has over 15 years professional experience as an artist. She currently does commissioned work in the forms of book designs, portraits, murals and Trompe-l’œil. I find her abilty to paint anamorphic images incredibly interesting.

Contact information for Camille can be found after the following Q and A.

Q.How old are you?
A. I was born in the 1960′s
Q.Were you born and raised here or elsewhere?
A. New Orleans
Q.Please tell us a little bit about your art.
A. I work mostly in oil, I love doing portraits, landscapes and still life. My work is realism with hints of impressionism.
Q.Do you do any work in other mediums?
A. Yes acrylic, pencil, and pastels.
Q.How long have you been creating?
A.Since the age of three
Q.Which artists do you feel you take the most inspiration from or admire?
A.My inspiration is drawn from the art of the great masters, such as Michelangelo, Raphael, also among my favorites are John Singer Sargent and Monet. My challenge, as an artist, is to live up to the standard of excellence they have established. Michelangelo said the great danger is not that our hopes are too high and we fail to reach them; it’s that they’re too low and we do.
Q.What do you feel gravitated you towards the arts?
A.I grew up around antiques and fine art. My father and grandfather had antique shops in New Orleans. I was fascinated with in detail and craftsmanship of things a saw growing up, it deeply inspired me.
Q.What feeling do you feel your work gives to the audience?
A.Something peaceful, it’s my hope to create from the heart and to touch the lives of those caught up in the routine of today’s busy lifestyles.

Camille’s professional site is VisionaryDesign.Info and has additional samples of her work along with all the contact information to hire her for a commissioned piece.

Getting featured on Art House Mouse only takes a few minutes of your time. Please check out our about page for more info!

I ran across the work of Vicki Niolet on the Katrina Artists site and was immediately intrigued by it. I have always had a place in my heart for the exact type of work she creates using found objects. While I have never been very good at creating assemblages personally, Vicki seems to have mastered it. Every piece has it’s own feel and it communicates this feeling to viewer easily and effortlessly as your eyes absorb the many details. She has also successfully integrated music box mechanisms into some of her work choosing each song that is played to match the feeling of the individual piece.

The following passages are from her site at vickiniolet.weebly.com

“Niolet has been creating constructions for almost 30 years, using items from flea markets, thrift stores, and rummage sales. But in 2005, she lost much of her scavenged collection to Hurricane Katrina. She was able to salvage some of her own materials, and combined them with other items that were abandoned on the roadsides of the neighborhoods. This unexpected “windfall” of found objects provided a different, more significant cache of raw materials. These items were now even more interesting because they had been washed with the “Katrina patina” and had a history all their own.

In 2006 and 2007 she published two books of Katrina photos and commentary. She also created public sculptures that are featured on the Bay Bridge and at the historic Depot in Bay St. Louis. She continues to work and live in the Old Town area while exhibiting throughout the country. She currently is represented by Ward-Nasse Gallery in New York City and The Garden District Gallery in New Orleans.”

Vicki has informed me that she and two of her friends will be having a mixed media show entitled “Evidence” at Delta State University this coming October. Details are still developing.

More information including her resume is available at VickiNiolet.com. There is a more up to date site located at vickiniolet.weebly.com.
She is on Facebook, just search for her Vicki Niolet, Mixed Media Artist . The Huffington Post’s Kimberly Brooks did an interview with her and compared her to Wall-E in the opening paragraphs. The interview can be found here.

I think it’s also important to note that she does have an Etsy page.

Getting a feature on the site is pretty easy to do and if you already have an artist statement or press release it’s also very quick. Just send what you have to me in an email with some examples.  Any entry can be mailed directly to me or linked with no problem. Provide 3 photographic samples for any still visual art. Musical, video and other entries should be kept to 1 per feature with up to 2 additional photos.

Already have a personal portfolio site? Just link me to it and I can use the info on your present site to get you featured on ArtHouseMouse.com.

Completely lost but want to get featured? Use the following questions to help get started!  Just answer as many as you can. The goal length will be between 250-500 words.

Your answers may be edited for spelling or length if required,
but your answer will stay the same either way.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

How old are you?
Were you born and raised here or elsewhere?
What musical acts(if any) keep you going?
What movies (if any ) never get old to you?
Tell us about a character building event in your life that has helped you become who you are today.

Please tell us a little bit about your art.

Do you do any work in other mediums?
How long have you been creating?
Which artists do you feel you take the most inspiration from or admire?
What do you feel gravitated you towards the arts?
Where was your work first exposed to the public?
What message (if any) do you try to convey in your work?
What feeling do you feel your work gives to the audience?