I grew up in Burlington, Massachusetts and was raised in a family where art, music, creativity and sports were encouraged. (The Perkett's are wicked Red Sox and Patriot fans!) Drawing and painting has always been my passion since I was a child, drawing everything from fairy tale princesses, mermaids, animals and fairies.

My professional art career started in the United States Air Force in 1986. I was stationed at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii for 4 years of active duty as a graphic artist. From there I moved to Southern California in 1990, continuing to work as a graphic artist and eventually going back to art school full time to finish my degree.

In June 2000, I received my Bachelor of Fine Art's degree from California State University at Fullerton, majoring in Illustration. It was in art school where I developed my style of pen and ink and digital color. I learned so much about art history and about other artists from different times and places.

Some of the artists who inspire me are: Botticelli, The Pre-Raphaelites, Kay Neilsen, Maxfield Parrish, Al Hirschfeld, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Patience Brewster, David Delamare, Linda Ravenscroft, Daniel Merriam and James Christiansen. There are so many more!

My creative process starts both in my sketchbook and my "idea" journal, a separate book for notes on any creative ideas I may have. Drawing in my sketchbook is one of my favorite things to do because so many magical things happen there creatively for me. It's where my first sketches are drawn - it's exciting when I start working on a sketch and it evolves into my next piece! The sketchbook drawing is transferred onto tracing paper and is then inked by hand in black with an ink pen (all of the black lines/outlines are the hand drawn ink lines). Then, the final ink drawing is scanned into the computer and colored completely in Adobe Photoshop, where all the color and finishing touches are added.

When I write my stories for each piece of my art I feel the innocence, spirituality and positive energy from it and then translate those feelings into each story. I hope that when people look at my work they feel the same emotions I do when I am creating it. It's such a wonderful feeling! I just have to share it with everyone!

In January 2004, I began working on my portfolio and developing my style even further, experimenting with line and color and drawing more fairies and goddesses. By October, I had created 10 new pieces. On October 2, 2004 I had my first show at The Artbar Gallery in Santa Ana, California. I sold a lot and was inspired to design a website and to sell my prints on-line. So here I am! I'm so glad you're here, too! I love what I do and I hope that you find as much happiness from my work as I do in creating it. Hope to see you soon!

- Michelle