I am so excited I could burst.  I plan on entering an International Art Contest. Pssttt..it involves lots of hand spun merino wool blended with French Angora Rabbit fur and Satin Angora Rabbit fur.

Melisa Morrison of Alba Ranch plans to enter ArtPrize, and International Art competition held in Grand Rapids, MI.  The show is September 21 through October 9, 2011.  Charlie Morrison of Alba Ranch is considering entering the same contest.

Artist registration opens on April 18, 2011.  Melisa and Charlie are both already registered as you need to register on line to be an artist and you can vote in the competition from that same registration.  The other way to vote for the competition is to go to Grand Rapids, MI during the ArtPrize

This competition is different than any other competition in that is held in Grand Rapids at many different venues all over the city which are mostly within walking distance or shuttle bus rides of each other.  The ArtPrize contest is determined by popular vote through online voting, text messages and voting at the show.  2011 will be the third ArtPrize show sponsored by Richard DeVos.  It is part Art Festival and part social experiment.  This event brings community and art together as the city is swarmed by artists and enthusiasts everywhere.

Melisa, a 1996 Grand Valley State University Alumni, is looking forward to visiting her home town where she lived on Cherry St. and College in the Heritage Hill District before marrying Charlie in 1999 and moving to Scotland.  Currently the couple live in Canon City, Colorado on a 55 acre parcel in the Rocky Mountains.  Melisa is the Fiber Artist and Animal Guru of Alba Ranch, while Charlie works offshore and is the Scottish International flavour of the couple.

Melisa raises dairy goats and French Angora Rabbits.  Up until about a year ago, Melisa also raised Angora and Cashmere goats, Merino Sheep, Long Wool sheep (Lincoln, Wensleydale, Teeswater and Cotswold), llamas, and Dorper sheep for meat.  Since focusing more on her Fiber Art, Melisa has cut down on the animals greatly into specializing more in the exotic fiber of French Angora Rabbits.  She has a huge supply of wool that she raised herself including some that she also sheared.

Charlie oil paints and is a shutter bug photographer.  Charlie works in both digital and film medium for photography.  Currently he is working in Oils for his painting medium but is starting into water colors as his next adventure.  HIs forte in oils is Landscapes specializing in REAL locations of his Beloved Scotland.  His photography tends to be of a lot of oil rig installations offshore, exotic locations, and all the critters on Alba Ranch with a fair amount of Scotland Castles thrown in for good measure.

Melisa is currently encouraging Charlie to enter the ArtPrize competition with her in 2011.  Go to the Alba Ranch – Art by Melisa and Charlie Morrison face book page and fan the page.  Put your comments in the Survey postings and be heard about whether you think he should enter or not.  If you have not seen much of his work, please view and comment on Charlie’s Oil Paintings and tell us what you think. competition and register at one of the registration booths.