Local artist Michelle Meng nurturing young talent in Dublin

The Dublin Art Collective, an initiative to support artistic and creative activity in Dublin California, recently featured the work of local artist and art teacher Michelle Meng.

Michelle works in a number of media including acrylics, colored pencils and chalk. She enjoys exploring new mediums and visualizes her artwork before selecting her medium of choice and bringing the piece to life.

A number of her students won awards for their work at the Alameda County Fair and several other students received recognition at a local Chinese school where she tutors. Michelle submitted several pieces produced by her students, and 7 pieces received the Judge's Favorite, Best of Show or Best of Class ribbons. All art pieces were judged by age group (K to 12) and displayed at the Education Hall at the Alameda County Fair and about 4000 pieces were submitted in total.

She encourages young artists to express their creativity and also participates in the Arts in Action program at Dougherty Elementary School.

Michelle indicated that she does not view herself as an artist as she finds that word too glamorous but would rather describe herself as an art lover. She is passionate about art and producing it.

Color and color/shape combinations catch her eye and inspire her to paint. She uses light to express both the moment and the feeling it conjures.

As a mother of two she finds that time to be creative and practice her art is at a premium and frequently pieces take longer to produce because of time constraints. The drive to produce artwork is however ever present and any available time is given to this purpose.

Her need to paint and be creative comes from within and cannot be ignored and can be compared to writers who need to write when their muse calls.

She hopes to inspire others to produce work that connects with their souls as she believes art expressed makes the world a better place. “When you reach inside yourself to produce an artwork it unlocks your creativity and that is what people see and how they are touched by a piece” says Michelle.

Her pieces are meant to invoke peaceful, soothing and relaxing responses from those who see them and introduce a calming state of mind to a home. She believes you cannot underestimate the therapeutic effect of tranquil and colorful art in a space and the benefits of art therapy and its healing outcomes are a clear way to see that art touches us deeper than just visually.

"Art is a spiritual endeavor that is not qualified by studies but rather inspired by life and its realness" says Michelle. In her mind her pieces contain a unique language for communicating and while not everyone can understand it, it’s beauty can still be appreciated while for those who connect with the language of the artwork true inner transformation happens.

When asked what advice she would give to others who are creatively orientated but have not produced anything yet Michelle said “when you have a vision of something you would like to create, it produces a spark that fires you up to catch the moment in a piece of artwork. It’s our responsibility to make that vision a reality.”

If you would like to see some of the work produced by Michelle and her students, please visit the Dublin Art Collective booth at the Splatter Festival in Emerald Glen Park, Dublin on September 16. There will be pieces on display from other local artists and makers as well.

By Vanessa Thomas, Dublin Art Collective