Name: Malissa Lea
Artistic Practice: Pyrography, leather, acrylic, pastel chalk
Categories: Hobbyist / professional photography
Contact Information: 780-914-2837
Biography: Malissa has lived in Alberta all of her life. Growing up in Edson, on the family farm, she has been surrounded by horses, cows, dogs, cats and the great outdoors. She developed an early love of animals and nature, while playing outside with her three sisters, making tree bark plates for strawberry picking, building forts, raising rabbits and sitting on the horses in the shade.
Early on, Malissa enjoyed art, making leaf rubbings or doing pencil sketches of her favorite Disney characters. When given the opportunity, she would try other mediums such as sculpting and oil pastel, but her favorite mediums have always been acrylic and pencil. A camera was always available to either play with or to use as an instrument to capture memories.
Malissa is primarily self-taught. Up to grade ten, she received art instruction in school, and has also taken workshops from a local artist, Thelma Maris, to learn decorative tole painting. From these beginnings, Malissa has received private commissions for paintings that people have requested from their old photographs. Her paintings have ended up on a variety of surfaces that range from wood, metal, paper, or canvas. Most notably are her paintings on old metal cream cans using acrylics. Recently, she has enjoyed acrylic and pencil classes at the Allied Arts Council, photographic skill development at NAIT, and travelling to the Photoshop World conference in Las Vegas. She has also completed a diploma in freelance photography through the Photography Institute. Malissa enjoys the challenge of learning new digital techniques to fine-tune her photographic images and to create digital paintings from her fine art photography.
Currently, Malissa lives in Spruce Grove with her wonderful husband and three beautiful children, who keep her quite busy with all their activities. She is usually able to coax a smile or two out of them for a photo op before they take off again to play one of their many games. She enjoys gardening, which has given her ample opportunity to practice plant and insect photography; especially, when her girls insist on Malissa getting the camera because they found a cool bug.
As her children get older, Malissa finds herself ready to do more. She is finding more time to become involved in associations and groups, to make new discoveries, and to meet fellow artists. She has been a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, a member of the Allied Arts Council (AAC) of Spruce Grove and a supporting member of the Alberta Society of Artists. Malissa enjoys participating in various open art competitions with the AAC and the Alberta Society of Artists.
Malissa’s focus in art, both by hand or by lens, has always been to create pieces that evoke memories and feelings, or to just cause you to pause for a moment. If she is able to do this, then her goal has been reached and Malissa has had the pleasure of sharing her art with you.
