Happy Endangered Species Day!! Today we celebrate wildlife + wild places and focus on how and why so many species are struggling to survive. Not only should we take this opportunity to educate ourselves on how our actions impact the survival of our nation's wildlife, but also how we can make a difference everyday! There are so many species, known and unknown, around the world that are close to extinction, but we can help turn their fate around. Melissa Helene Fine Arts and

With the launch of Melissa Helene Fine Arts and Photography at the beginning of 2015, I will not only be focusing on my 'fine arts' and 'photography', but also developing a third business initiative - Wildlife, Wild Places, & Conservation Awareness through artwork and photography! My work is greatly inspired and motivated by the natural places and creatures of this earth. I put all of myself into each piece that I create and I want to use my work for a greater cause. There

With the turning of the new year, I am thrilled to be working on building a business that combines so many things that I am passionate about (art, scratchboard, wildlife, nature, photography, social justice, personal impact) into one enterprise that will one day be the career of a lifetime! I've spent many weeks planning for the start of this new year; PLANNING, PLANNING, PLANNING - developing schedules, task lists, goal maps, a business plan, marketing and social media strat

In the last few months, scratchboard has become the main focus of my artwork. For those of you who have been following my work, this is a trend you may have noticed. If you're just coming across my work and this site, please take a look around and see what I've been up to here. I thought I might take a few minutes to write about the medium itself and why I've switched my focus from primarily pencil and charcoal to scratchboard. Scratchboard is not a new medium, but it is de