Local and international talent in an immersive setting.
May/June Exhibit
HCA Gallery Hours: Monday – Thursday 9am – 9pm and Saturday 9am – 4pm
“I am a portrait artist, and my main incentive is to connect with my subjects to reflect their personalities and emotions. Dogs are honest, intelligent and highly sensitive to our feelings, in many ways more so than people. Dogs are pleasers. They are protectors. They are known to save lives. They can melt your heart with their eyes. This is what inspired me to start Velvet Paw Fine Portraits. Just like with my portraits of people, my goal is to create soulful portraits of dogs to reflect who they are. “
Melanie Gillis graduated from The University of Toronto in 1995 with a BSc in Social Psychology. For the following year she taught psychology at Sheridan College while pursuing her photography on the side. In 1997 she combined her passions for social psychology, fine art photography and people in general, and opened her studio in Guelph, where she built her career as a photographer. She moved to Hamilton in 2004 where she currently lives and works.
