BOISE, IDAHO - NOVEMBER 7-10, 2016 (M-TH 10-6pm) The Rose Room, downtown Boise (718 West Idaho Street)

GRATITUDE.

I wish to thank the Alexa Rose Foundation for their vision of helping local artists succeed with professional training and project funding through grants and fellowships. The grant I received was truly a gift of skills I could not have acquired otherwise. To be awarded funds for success by your own art community is the highest honor and inspiration at its finest. 

With the grant money I received I was able to attend an intensive one week wax carving clinic in Albuquerque, NM and rapidly enhance my carving skills. I picked up many gems of information, tips and tricks to make my studio time efficient and successful. This is why I wanted to go:

· Hands on experience with a master wax carver. √
· Feeling the sensation of carving with the right tool. √
· Hear the sound that the tools make. √
· Have a coach guiding you. √
· Make the tools do what you want. √

Images above from Melissa's final report to the Alexa Rose Foundation.

People are asking if my art will be inspired by the experience. Having my art community believe in my success is the inspiration in this experience! Funds for this training are very important to my success. In Albuquerque, I needed to be on-my-game and assimilate knowledge that I only had one-week access to — I was there to receive answers to questions and learn technique, and think forward to my art and how I would realize sketches I had already made.

This is exactly where I needed to be. And that's the beauty of this grant I received. It allowed me to be there. "... the foundation desires to provide substantial impact on the lives of creative citizens, giving them access to the catalytic experiences and skills they need to develop as artists and as people."

Relief is what I received. Knowledge is liberating. I can now move forward with my art that has been waiting to be realized! 

With Gratitude to the Alexa Rose Foundation.