New Paintings from the coast of New Hampshire

For the story click the link below-
http://mvarametalandpaint.com/site/2013/07/09/new-paintings-from-the-coast-of-new-hampshire/

Memorial Day

   As Memorial Day approaches, let us not forget the sacrifices our veterans made to preserve our freedoms.

Go to for the rest-

 http://mvarametalandpaint.com/site/2013/05/23/memorial-day/

Satisfied customers keep coming back to Ballard Road Art Studio

In the more than 30 years of running an art studio it has been my pleasure to enhance many clients ideas through metal and paint. But this couple, repeat clients are my most recent tickle or prize. When they picked up the airbrush painted, ford truck tailgate,  up she cried that night she e-mailed me to say-

“I just wanted to thank you again for the most BEAUTIFUL tail gate EVER!!!!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH..... I never in a million years thought it would be soooo beautiful. I know your work is amazing,...but this was way over the top. I love it so much it was simply breath taking,..literally.. I was so shocked of how beautiful. You are one amazing artist MICHELLE- thank you,- thank you, thank you --GOD BLESS!”  SHARON

An Artist Thanksgiving creed-!

Im thankful for -

 I am thankful that I am not one of the majority of people in this world that wakes up every morning, goes to a job they hate, just to come home and do it all over again.

 I am thankful that I am my work, living all my passion and expression every day at my studio.

 I am thankful that when I am away from my studio, my ideas come with me, they keep me company everywhere I go.

I am thankful for my life full of experiences.

 I am thankful that I have a mind that cannot sleep, I have never been bored.

 I am thankful that there is a part of my life that nobody can control, except me.

 I am thankful that no one in the world can ever take this gift from me.

 I am thankful that I am brave and strong, it takes courage to pursue my gift full time.

 I am thankful that I am never satisfied; it forces me to move forward, change and grow.

I am thankful for my life mate, friends, family, collectors and peers.

I am thankful for you, the ones who help me reach and grow artistically offering me opportunities beyond words.

Thank You All and I wish you have a happy day with those who make you – you!
Peace!

9-11 sculpture outline, or the artist's visual symbolization.

“As an artist it is invigorating to have been given such an eminent opportunity”…….

The sculpture piece I call “Respectful Remembrances” (50” X 57” h) is meant to reflect the unity of Americans’ in all walks of life, offering an uplifting sense of healing and forward progression, on the home front horizon, without forgetting the past.

 I have outlined in words, a highlight of my visual symbolization.

·       The I Beam

Is an actual piece from the World Trade Center events.
 You can see the sever duress the iron has been through by the bends that are in it.
It encapsulates immense spirit and energy.

 ·       The arched rusted piece of Angel Iron –

On 9/11 the scene of countless people walking orderly across the Brooklyn Bridge towards safety, left a mark in my mind’s eye.

 The events as they happened in real time. 
The rise and fall. 
The bending of Strength but still holding.
The metal piece was from a fire escape removed from building in Glens Falls NY.

 ·       ¾ inch Round down post-

This piece intentionally bent, wavy and rusted showing inconstant information coming from the ground level. 

The Questions that remain un-answered about the disaster.

·       The small Off Shoot of ¼” Flat stock-

“fractional pieces”- of stories,  ideas,  thoughts,  energy.

Made as a support in the supporting of each other, human being to human being.
The holding up or up lifting.
Rising.
Each small part played is important to the big picture.

 ·       The circle -

The circle is of inexhaustible implications.

Unity, all encompassing, beginning, end, strength, connection.
The sun and moon, work, human culture, concept of all-inclusive.
All the forces (medical, fire, rescue, military, etc,) that work together so hard in collective efforts.
Polished metal is the representation of the light and opportunities.

In closing-
The remembrance of life lost, given and shared, the innocents of a nation changed and our troops on the front, even now, are also meant to be implied in the over all of this piece.

 In overwhelming gratitude,

miChelle M. Vara

Sept. 11 Monument Sculpture to be ready in Time

Post Star 8/27/2011

Wilton Sept. 11 monument to be ready in time for anniversary

Read more: http://poststar.com/news/local/wilton-sept-monument-to-be-ready-in-time-for-anniversary/article_b3e45b74-d02b-11e0-82aa-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1WF7BhkTG

WILTON -- When officials with the Wilton Fire Department received a long-awaited piece of the former World Trade Center, they weren't exactly sure what to do with it.

So they took it to an artist.

Michelle Vara, a sculptor in the town for 25 years, went to work on the twisted section of a steel I-beam the department had requested roughly four years ago.

"They said, ‘Use your judgment. Make it a sentence. Make it a statement,'" Vara said.

The sculpture - and the metals she added to it, each with its own meaning - will be displayed at the firehouse on Ballard Road in time for the coming 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

It's smaller and less controversial than the towering metal sculpture Saratoga Springs officials recently backed away from displaying in front of City Hall.

Vara, who operates 6 Ballard Road Art Studio Gallery, said her piece has a different feel. She said it's one of "positive retrospect," and that she was drawn to the unity she saw after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"Some really awesome things came out of an awful event," she said. "The camaraderie of human existence is mind-blowing - how people took care of their neighbors."

While most of the metal in the sculpture was deliberately rusted by Vara, one piece was not: a piece she bent into a circle. It stands out with a silver shine in the sculpture.

"The circle represents unity, how everyone came together and how people worked together - people from all walks of the Earth," she said.

One of the legs is wavy and inconsistent with the others, which she said represents the questions that remain unanswered about the disaster.

Firefighter Ray Bailey, who requested the piece of metal years ago when he was the department's president, got a glimpse of it for the first time Friday.

"I think it's wonderful," he said. "I think it's very expressive, and I think she did a good job conveying the energy and the emotion."

He said it was a meaningful coincidence that, after waiting years to find out if the department would receive the metal - and then a few more to actually get it - it arrived just months before the 10th anniversary of the attacks.

When it's put on display, the department plans to incorporate a multimedia showing of a decade-old project called "Through the Eyes of a Child," Bailey said. It consists of letters written by young children of firefighters in the department reflecting on the attacks shortly after they happened.

Many of the children who wrote those letters, Bailey said, are now firefighters.

Posted in Local on Friday, August 26, 2011