“You use a Mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your Soul.”
“I Believe that I am Driven on a Soul level to Create!”
At the southern edge of the Adirondack mountains, the wind whispers inspiration and shadows thrown by the towering pines bring visions to artist mi Chelle Vara.
Working in rugged materials, Vara Pries energy from thier stubborn strength, creating dimension, movment and emotion where there was none.
Born on the seacoast, Vara moved to the mountains a decade ago and found that her soul flew free, released to create on levels only once suspected.
Well-versed in Painting, Murls, Airbrush, Faux-finishes, Senic Installations, Photography, Sculpture, Welding, Wood carving, Her work has been commissioned by a wide variety of corporate, individual and municipal clients.
Click Here for more photos of mi Chelle, including candid shots at work in the studio!
miChelle M. Vara primary C.E.O. of Ballard Road Art Studio for more than 20 years. The Studio Gallery a 30’x 60’ building open to the public and is Located 7 miles out side of Saratoga Springs, New York.
The studio is fully tooled for sculpting, welding, machining, Fabrication, painting, airbrush, pin-striping and hand lettering.
The rural site is also her home and farm.
mi Chelle with an assistant timely produces every aspect of all projects.
miChelle’s vivacious life style offers little rest, but much visual stimulation. In turn she has never-ending ideas of one mental snap shot after another, resulting in volumes of drawings.
She continues turning drawings of life’s segments into dimensional metal sculpture keeping an uninterrupted daily flow of many new large and small-scale sculptural pieces, in a wide range of styles and finishes.
Thank you for visiting and we will continue to bring new art to the world, so check back often.
Exhibitions
8/09- BJS Gallery- Victim to Victory
7/09- North Bennington Art Park-Theodora
7/09- Hopper House
6/2009- Kingston Sculpture Biennial- Henry Hudson & Half Moon, Life
2/14/09-Thacher Nature Center – Pieces shown- The Birds & Uccelo rosso
2-04/09– Christ Church Capital District- “Reflections”
Pieces to be shown– Caval5, Free, Eeffie, and Pieces of Love-2nd prize
12/08– Manhattan International Arts –Piece Junk Head
11/08– BJS Gallery Glens Falls NY– Victims to Victory
Pieces – Transitions, Eeffie won 2nd prize, Alive, Theodora
12/08– Slow Art Production-Show of heads– Piece shown Junkhead
9/08– YWCA Troy– “Empowerment”- 10 pieces shown, 1st prize.
6/08– Domestic Violence Awareness– Traveled through-out NY
2008– Down Town Albany Sculpture in the Streets (BID) Albany NY.
Pieces Showing– Volta del Gioioso & Harmony.
2008– The Shore Institute of Contemporary Arts (SICA) Long Branch NJ.
Pieces Showing-Life & One Bucking Thing After Another.
2008– Troy Night Out – The Troy factory NY
2008-2005- North Bennington Arts– Bennington, VT
Pieces Showing– Tale & Eeffie
2007– Life Studio Art & The Human Figure– Schenectady NY, Troy NY,
Albany NY, Saratoga NY. (Pieces shown Jack & Hello)
2007 – 2005 Saratoga Arts Council-Saratoga, NY
2007-2005 Salem Art Works– Salem, NY
2007- 2006 Salem Extravaganza, NY
2007-2005 High Peaks Java– Glens Falls, NY
2006 -2005 Bennington Collage, VT
2006 Mass Arts Council– Massachusetts
2005– Saratoga Inside Out
2005 Waterways Vaporetto- Labiennale di` Veneza
2005 Waterways- Venice, Italy
2005 9th Istanbul Biennale– Santa Elena, Venice
2003 Sagamore Resort– Bolton Landing, NY
2000-1998 Copperfield– North Creek, NY
2000-1998 North Country Gallery– North Creek, NY
2000 Chamber of Commerce– North Creek, NY
2000-1998Art in the woods– North Creek, NY
1999 McDonalds– Warrensburg, NY
1998-1994 Rally Rotating Shows– Thru out the US
1993 Ocean County Artist Guild– Toms River, NJ
1993 Grant $13,000 Art in the community sculpture project/New Jersey
1994-1993 Ocean County Collage– Toms River, NJ
1993- Toms River Technical- Outstanding Young Art Photographer Award $10,000 and 1mth residency in Chicago.
1991- NJ Outstanding Young Artist Award
1981- Full scholarship to Pratt University
Education
miChelle was educated untraditionally thru Montessori schooling and one on one specialists. Working to prove what dyslexia’s boundaries are, and how to over come them. Her clinical disability is crossed optic lobe. The incoming information goes in the visual part of the brain first, unlike the “normally developed brain”. She thinks it is her greatest birth gift.
1998– Modern Welding-Certified in all Positions/Types welding/brazing
1990– SC Institute-Jewelry making
1997– RIT– Blue print reading
1995– Practical welding Pete Hues
1994–92 Adirondack Community Collage
1986-84– Green Mt. Blacksmithing/ hand forging/hammering tech.
1984-82-Ocean County Collage– Associates Degree Photography
1980– 81-Toms River Tech.– Commercial Art/Photography Certification