About My Art

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Banayat Fine Art and the
MiliGirl Collection
By Melanie Banayat

I have been a professional artist for my entire adult life in one form or another, either in commercial art or in fine art.  However, when my husband and I split up after 15 years of marriage in 2004 and began the long, painful divorce proceedings -- I had lost everything that was of value to me in my life (my children, the family farm, the family business, and all interest in producing art). 

Two years later, after the divorce was finally over, and I was able to begin picking up the pieces of my life I realized I needed to give myself some serious “Me Time” to transition from my old life to my new life. 

A Harsh Path to Recovery & Wellness:

I did everything from see a therapist once a week for 6 months, take part in a weekly divorce support group for five months, soaked the shoulders every day of several good friend’s for entirely too long, and even completed a highly emotional 12-step program for abused women.

Mexico Haitus:

Eventually I moved deep down into central Mexico for 6 months to a small, lakeside village in Jalisco called Ajijic, despite the fact that I didn’t know a single soul there. I decided that I wanted to use this time to start painting again.  I wanted to use my artwork as a form of therapy to heal from all the pain and loss in my life.  So I rented a quaint casita to use as my art studio, then hopped on a bus to make my trek into the big city of Guadalajara to buy myself a beautiful painting easel and two canvas bags full of oil paints and paint brushes.  And last, but certainly not least, I hired some young, local artists to make me a stockpile of handmade canvases that they personally delivered to my studio, because I didn’t have a car for the first three months that I was there.

I ended up painting many images of women that exuded the qualities that I wanted to explore and incorporate into my life.  Other artists such as Tracy Chapman, Alanis Morissette, Sarah McLachlan, Madonna, and many others were my steadfast companions in my studio every day.  Their words helped me dig deeper and understand how to express emotions visually. 

While living in Mexico I learned to let my hair down.  I don’t speak Spanish, but I didn’t let that keep me from getting out and making new friends.  I went dancing two to three times a week, I joined a woman’s group that met once a month for a ladies night, I hiked, I biked, I ate delectable desserts with guiltless abandon, worked out at the gym, went to concerts, ballets, musicals, and plays, attended many fiestas, explored the countryside, and most importantly I learned to smile and laugh authentically once again. 

People often ask me where I learned how to paint.  "Where did you study art?" they would inquire.  Though I did receive some conventional training in college,  the answer truly is .... I learned to paint at the "University of Hard Knocks".  I also like to make reference to my children as some of my best art teachers, because there is simply no way that I would be able to paint the many mother & child images that I paint (in the way that I paint them) had I not been a mother and experiened the struggles and blessings of motherhood.

The MiliGirl Collection:

When I moved back to the United States, I decided to establish my home base in the beautiful small town of Prescott, Arizona.  Once I got settled in I began to turn all of my images of women into prints and note cards with inspirational prose that I wrote from my life experiences as well as the experiences of other women that I met along the way.

There Are No Mistakes:
There Was a Greater Purpose  . . .
This whole, exhausting road back to emotional wellness played a large role in my desire to learn how to help other women achieve the health goals that they, too, desire to have in their life. 

In my search for the type of education that was a right fit for me I eventually found the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to get trained and certified as a Holistic Health Counselor.  What I learned in my education was a far better way back to whole health than the emotionally draining path I had endured.  It is a much more enjoyable approach.  

If you'd like to learn more about how I help women reach their health & wellness goals
CLICK HERE

Titles of Artwork
Top: Bed of Flowers
Middle: The Rising
Bottom: Kiss

All Artwork © copyright 2007 Melanie Banayat 
Melanie's artwork, prints and notecards may be purchased at www.MiliGirl.com

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Melanie Banayat  |  Miligirl Enterprises  |  P.O. Box 11595 Prescott, AZ. 86304  |  928-239-5656