Today we’d like to introduce you to Liz (Michelle) Belrose.
Hi Liz, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was always creative as a child and became very shy around second grade with issues at home and constantly being told to stop asking questions. Before I got more involved with visual art, I started out in tap and modern dance at a very young age, but was kicked out of the dance studio at six because the dance instructor felt I was more enthusiastic than talented, not being able to do flips or cartwheels.
My favorite subjects in school from an early age waere art and history. Learning the basic skills and learning the history of artists and their work always inspired me both in writing and visual expression. From my mom, I gained a love of poetry and aboriginal art from Native Americans to other cultures around the world. From my Dad, I learned a love of music, shop and cars. Both of my parents were musically inclined when they were younger. My Dad played the guitar and my Mom the organ. I remember my mom teaching me to play twinkle little stars on my own organ as a child. However I never received any piano or music lessons until college. In elementary I won several art contests and wrote my first illustrated poem, winning first place.
In middle school I explored shop classes and photography, learning the science behind some forms of art. I then started falling in love with science and especially oceanography, inspired from an older cousin studying it for class. I then came across Jacque Cousteau and was hooked watching and reading about his explorations. I became fascinated with wanting to learn to communicate with whales and dolphins and majored in marine biology before dropping out senior year when my grandma died.
My childhood was not peaceful with domestic disturbances and violence. Being able to escape into my imagination and self-express myself through my poetry and art saved me from a bad end I believe. It was truly my therapy from a young age. Being shy, my art became a way to communicate with others, starting conversations by handing out art or poetry as gifts, a habit I still continue.
Since childhood, I have also been ill quite a lot and no matter what pain or illness came up I continued to find ways of creating to stay sane. My mom’s faith and teachings about Jesus always found a way to bring me back around out of mental illness and slight times of hopelessness, though I battled for years at times with hopelessness. Through all my struggles and illness I have learned one should never give up hope. That we are all connected and most of all, we should love, respect and show each other that there is hope through our struggles. My mom showed me this constantly with her actions of always helping others in need and showing respect to all, animals included.
Today I still give away more art and poetry than sell it. I believe one’s financial situation should not hinder one from finding hope and inspiration in any form. The arts should be available for all to use as their own therapy, stress relief and allow for the imagination to grow. Through this openness, one is able to open their heart to find peace and joy and for some in a higher spiritual being. For me that is Jesus.
I believe that humanity as a whole can find everlasting joy and peace through coming together in love and respect. We should help each other no matter the circumstances and build each other up for all to find their own hope and happiness. The basis of my art and any future businesses is based on this concept.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I do not remember many smooth roads in my life but those that revolved around helping others. Without challenges and low points to learn from, we do not grow or appreciate the smooth roads that come from overcoming them. To tell our stories of hardships to inspire others that there is always hope. I already mentioned my family background in domestic violence and illnesses but I also had to overcome self-doubt and low financial support.
Attending a school that was 10% white, 35% Hispanic and 55% African American, and having an aunt with Down Syndrome gave me a very enriched upbringing seeing different views and hardships from different types of ethnicity and disabilities. However I truelly didn’t grasp minority discrimination until after my tracheotomy and Covid. I was faced with discrimination myself, turned away from businesses and even a doctor because of my disabilities. In middle school, having a single, disabled mother, we did not always have enough to make ends meet each month. I learned to reuse and repurpose with what was available around me to express myself creatively. I also had to learn not to be hard on myself and to not take what others said about my art and dreams to heart. My mom always claimed I was my worst critic.
To go over all my health issues, challenges and miracles I’ve witnessed will take too long for this interview, so I will give highlights of my challenges since 2017 in bullet form.
- 2017 I overcame having septic shock and a broken foot.
I was in ICU for a week with septic shock that brought my blood pressure dangerously low. I had came into the ER with 300-degree temperature from UTI misdiagnosed and traveled to bloodstream. I also caught c-diff and a blot clot in right arm while in hospital. Two months later I was in an accident where my right foot was broken and took over a year to heal.
- 2018 I lost all but one of our last four surviving cats my mom and I rescued.
Had to euthanize the three older cats back to back from illness and old age.
- 2019 I had two major surgeries and my mom passed away between the two.
I had respiratory failure July 4 and was on a ventilator for three weeks and was given the option to have tracheotomy or die. During tracheotomy, thyroid cancer was found and had to remove the whole thyroid three months later. While recovering in a long-term hospital from 1st surgery to handle 2nd surgery, my mom died from septic shock. After 2nd surgery, I found out my right vocal cord was damaged and no longer worked.
Miracle- I started writing and then drawing right after waking from being in a coma for a week when I had respiratory failure. It wasn’t pretty at first but I finished my first drawing two to three weeks after waking and was able to communicate while on the ventilator by writing. My doctor told me this was very rare and he had seen only three people during his time as a doctor.
- 2020 Covid hit, I lost gallery opportunities, I had several vocal surgeries and hospital stays, and lost the use of my hands.
I was stopped in my attempt to network with local art galleries and artists when Covid hit. I was also hospitalized at least twice and in ER 15 times with lung, trach issues, infections non-Covid and inflammation issues throughout the body. I also lost the use of my hands from nerve and ligament damage caused by the Covid scare. Where a personal shopper at my local grocery store was denied, and I had to wheel myself in a manual wheelchair around the store with a shopping cart.
- 2021 Storm URI hit and I had several surgeries, broke my right foot and toes, plus losing my main income.
Uri, the name of my brother’s daughter, and the storm arrived on my brother’s birthday. A lessor storm arrived on my birthday the month before, the only two winter storms that year. I had no electricity for over a week, no running water for two and a half weeks and no hot water for over a month; had to eat rotten food to survive and my stove was condemned a month later from a gas leak. Also hospitalized twice for infections non-Covid and inflammation, and had several surgeries, both kidney stone and vocal. Mold Remediation and Repairs where needed causing tenants to leave and I lost my only income at the time. On my way home from church I was in an accident and only came away with my foot and toes broken.
- 2022 I had 2nd kidney stone surgery and 5th vocal cord surgery, still no income and recently toe amputation.
I am often unable to speak or too hoarse to hear and will most likely need repeated vocal surgery, but with last surgery, my voice is sounding better. Still have not been able to complete Mold Remediation and Repairs, so still no income. Currently in a hospital to have a toe amputated from infection reaching the bone and recovery at home while completing this interview, but infection was found before I lost my entire left foot.
As you can see my health may stop my progress but does not stop me from hoping and dreaming big.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a visual artist and poet that follows wherever her heart and art leads her. I believe the love, respect and light within all will bring us joy and peace if we work together to support one another along our life journeys, to find oneself and a higher spiritual being. I’ve been mainly self-taught, but have learned (and am always learning) to advance my skills in different art genres, to use my imagination and intuition, to follow my heart and where the art leads. Without the arts and teachers showing me the basics to open my imagination allowing for hope and space to express myself, especially when words were not able to, I know I would probably not still be alive.
My main art is usually abstract with mediums including; drawing, mainly gel ink drawings, acrylic painting on any surface, wire and clay sculpture, wire wrap jewelry, mosaics and have recently focused more on photography, digital art and looking into cooking as an art form. My influences include aboriginal cultures and ancient art mainly Native American, African and Celtic with some Aborigines (Australian) and zentangle art. I have been told my spirit gel ink drawings remind them of The Northwest Coast Native American art. I have loved the totems from that area since I was a child.
In the future I hope to explore more traditional art going back before chemicals were introduced, learning a more environmentally sound way of creating. I’m also very big on reusing and repurposing all aspects of my business and art to keep more waste out of the landfills. I always enjoyed collaborating with my brother who is also artistically inclined, and would like to collaborate with more artists and bring new experiences for both artists and viewers. I believe the arts are a necessity for all humans to relieve stress and express themselves. Though many believe they are not artistic, I believe they have just not found their niche yet that provides ultimate release and expression, that art can take on many forms. I hope to teach both children and adults to help them find their own artistic outlet and provide hope.
For me, it is believing in Jesus Christ and having faith he will see me through providing me hope and everlasting love. From a young age, my mom taught me we must show love and respect to one another and everything God created. I’m not saying that I have not stumbled, but it is my story and how I believe through all my illnesses I’ve survived and succeeded in my purpose in life.
I believe God has called me to bring hope and inspiration to others through my own personal story and art. A personal visual piece of art that allows one a visual representation to guide one into hope and possibly open heart to find their own way to a higher spiritual self and God. I might not be successful in monetary means but in my goal of spreading hope and love throughout my life, I believe I have been successful. Just showing kindness to one person, telling them my story and showing them what they have survived and learned from only makes them stronger and brings joy. It can spread to many others with them doing the same.
During Covid, I believe the world saw the connection between building one another up as a community to build prosperity and it brought some humanity back into our everyday dealings. However, I see the need for financial gain starting to override this. We must not let the teachings we learned from Covid slip away and work closely to build everyone up not just a few. With my art and any future businesses that I restart or start, for-profit or non-profit, that is my mission; to bring humanity, love and kindness to others, building communities up not just myself.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love that Austin allows people to express themselves freely and accepts people for who they are. Creatives have always been drawn to Austin’s openness and friendly atmosphere that allows for free expression and the arts to flourish. It might not always be what some call appropriate but it is always a good conversation starter.
What I like least about my hometown is that Austin is growing at a faster pace than it can handle. Many of the families that have been here for generations are being pushed out into the surrounding cities or becoming homeless due to personal financial instability and unable to keep up with the living costs rising every year. The parks and natural environment Austin were known for are shrinking to make way for buildings that I’m concerned are being built too fast and potentially structurally unsound.
But overall I have always been proud and happy to call Austin my hometown as a third or fourth generation citizen. I’m just nostalgic for old times of the small-time feeling one had in a large city.
Pricing:
- Consultation and 30 Minute interviews for custom drawing $40
- Original Gel ink drawing starts at $60 and up
- Digital copy of art starts at $35 and up
- Jewelry pieces start at $15 and up
- Acrylic paintings are $60 and up
Contact Info:
- Email: Lizbelrose2@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miliashacreations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtbyM.ElizabthBelrose/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/Miliasha/
