A question most artists get asked often is ‘where do you get your inspiration from?’ When looking at Mel Stones’ work, it is immediately obvious where her passions lie.
UK expat Mel Stones not only works as an artist but is also a co-founder and organiser of Animal Action Abu Dhabi; an animal welfare group founded to help the capital’s strays.
Mel is a designer working in various mediums, from paint and decoupage to fabrics and even homewares. She recently exhibited her work to help raise funds for the animal-welfare group in Khalifa City A.
TOAD asked the multi-talented Mel a few questions about her work.
You founded an animal rescue group and create art for a living, where do you find the time for anything else?
I run Animal Action-Abu Dhabi for which I do about six to ten hours of volunteer work each day to keep it running. We’ve got 100 animals for adoption now. I paint in the evenings, once it’s quiet, and into the night. Some days I don’t have time to paint if there has been an emergency that day, so I do pull many all-nighters when I have a deadline on a commissioned piece. I tend to be able to get more painting done on Fridays when less people are emailing about dogs. I have no social life or time to do anything else, unfortunately. I’m dedicated to needy animals and I’m fine with that. My family and fiancée are less pleased [smiles]. My sister does much of the AA-AD volunteer work and they hate that she is always busy too.
You’re a native Brit, how is the industry here compared to home?
The UK is far more competitive but at the same time I feel much more inspired to work there than in Abu Dhabi. I think being able to see all the different types of art available in the UK on any high street makes me want to go and try something new.
You use various mediums, all of which you are very talented with, but which do you prefer?
My favourite medium is now acrylic paint. I never would have thought that as I have always been one to draw – especially with biro pen – and only learned how to paint after my first year of university when a professor encouraged me to try it. I got my degree in Fine Arts at university with my major being painting and not drawing, as I had first gone in thinking I would be doing.
Where, apart from animals, do you get inspiration?
I get my inspiration from surrounding myself in artwork. On the few occasions I go out and I pass a gallery, I will make a point to look in because when I leave I feel more inspired to go home and paint and try something new. I think also having a space in which you can take all your artwork out, work on it and then leave it to continue the next day makes a huge difference.
What’s the hardest part of what you do?
The hardest part of surviving as a painter is when you find a theme of work you feel so inspired to work on that you can do many pieces of the same genre for months and months without getting bored, and then you end up finding that no one is interested once you’re done.
How do the pet portraits compare to your other art?
The pet portraits are a guaranteed regular income. I do also very much enjoy doing them because I feel I get to learn a lot about the dog I am painting and I just love dogs in general. What I like about the pet portraits is that they are done on watercolour card, which I much prefer to working with than canvas.
What do you think you would do if you weren’t an artist?
If I wasn’t an artist, I would love to run a dog shelter or a boarding place with a shelter on the side. That is my life-long dream and something that I hope will happen at some point. I’m not one to care about making a profit or buying fancy shoes or clothes or pretentious things. I’d pick a stray dog over a free car any day.
www.facebook.com/melstonesartist, www.facebook.com/animalactionabudhabi (02 556 4111).
