A retired attorney and disabled granny, Northwest Arkansas native Melissa Milton took up art as a serious endeavor in 2017. This was during the 2nd year of a 5 year period of being homebound with medical issues. Her inherited medical conditions of Dysautonomia and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome left her unable to stand for more than 5 minutes or sit up more than 15 minutes. Blood pressure crashes caused her to pass out daily for 30-90 minutes. Driving or walking farther than she could get in 5 minutes’ time were out of the question. Although her body could do little more than lie around, her mind still worked just fine. She took up art, creating digital art on a tablet while lying down.

After about a year, to her surprise people began asking to buy her art. This nice development caused her to need to learn how to build an art website and how to create electronic payments.Since she had nothing but time on her hands while being forced to lie down all day, she learned those skills.

In 2020 an experimental oxygen unit was found to enable her to sit up for up to 4 hours a day (a vast improvement over just 15 minutes). And she could also stand for up to 20 minutes instead of just 5 minutes. These increased physical abilities opened up her art practice to sculpture and to painting with liquid paints. The digital art became a preliminary sketching tool instead of the end result. She still sketches pictures of her sculptures and “regular” paintings with a stylus on a tablet before beginning them in real life.

To this day, she uses the oxygen units 24/7. They prevent her from passing out during the blood pressure drops caused by Dysautonomia. (As Melissa puts it, “If my circulatory system were a car, my wacky nervous system is its drunk driver.”) One large oxygen unit is part of her 500 sq foot art studio, which has been designed around the sofa she sits on or lies down on while creating artwork. And yes, the sofa has had a lot of paint spilled on it.

Over the years her artwork has grown into an integral part of Melissa’s daily life. She creates art from her art studio sofa for 2-3 hours on most days. Art has also become an enjoyable part time gig. She sells art through local Northwest Arkansas & Northwest Oklahoma Galleries, gift shops, exhibits, museums, various art shows, and online through her art website.

Melissa would be creating the art whether or not it sold. But she loves that the art sales fund the creation of even more art, plus of course are helpful during her retirement years.

Melissa has found that participating in the Galleries and gift shops has led to many wonderful friendships, as well as the opportunity to frequently enjoy other artists’ artwork which she’d have otherwise have never gotten to experience. This has been perhaps the very best gift of art becoming part of her life.

Melissa lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas with her husband & pets. She has many friends and a large extended family in the area, which includes adult children and grandchildren.