Pet Portraits by Melanie

All About Melanie

A very warm welcome!

If you would like to read a little about me this is the place to do so! My name is Melanie Phillips and i am a professional pet portrait artist. I work in our home studio with my husband Nick Beall who is also a pet portrait artist.

We have just bought a small 300 year old cottage in rural mid wales and simply love it! It is full of history and has a large inglenook fireplace with a wood burning stove, low ceilings with large oak beams. It has a small cottage garden at the front and a larger garden at the rear for a few chickens, a vegetable garden, a small pond and a greenhouse. We are very self sufficient.

We are surrounded by beautiful countryside and forests which allow us to walk for miles, see the natural wildlife and plants and walk along beautiful streams and rivers. This is the perfect place to be if you are an artist. Its inspirational, tranquil and allows you to really feel alive and we are very fortunate to be able to live and work in such a place.

As many people know it is a struggle to make a living from art. Ask any artist and they will say the same, particularly as both myself and Nick are working in the same field, as in most cases artists are often subsidized by a partners income.

We have worked really hard to get to where we are today, and i think if you have struggled for years and not had everything just thrown in your lap you appreciate it all the more. So i am really proud of our achievements.

I have lived in wales for much of my life, moving here with my parents when i was just 13 to a small holding where they still live. I was in my element as we had pigs, cows, sheep, ducks, chickens, goats, a dog and two cats. I had fields to romp in and make camps, i could dig in streams and dam them up, i was a real tomboy! I go back to the small holding on a weekly basis to see my parents, they don't have so many animals these days as they are nearly retired, but they do still keep a couple of cows, 6 pet sheep, ducks, chickens and have 6 peacock. I'm sure they will always have animals.

The pet sheep and some of the chickens and ducks are actually mine and my parents kindly look after them for me. I visit them regularly and if you would like to see photos of them visit the 'down on the farm' section.

Last, but not least, i cant forget to mention our little 'monster' that lives with us here at the cottage - our ever naughty cat 'Amram' named after one of Nicks smuggling ancestors. He was a rescue cat and has certainly made a home here, he rules the roost and is very very spoilt! He loves going to the farm when we stay over, he is partial to a mouse or two that he can easily catch form the many outbuildings and fields he can roam in. He seems to treat it as quite a holiday as when he is back at the cottage he lazes in our studio all day and doesn't bother to go out hunting here.

Well i hope you feel you know me a little better and i also hope you enjoy your stay on my website!