I am a Washington State native and grew up in the Seattle area. Art, animals, and nature have always played a significant part in my life. A self-taught artist in multiple disciplines including painting, illustration, graphic design, photography, sculpture, jewelry, metal work, and more; I enjoy exploring different art forms and techniques. I also specialize in custom painted companion animal portraits and truly enjoy working with my clients to create these portraits and getting to know their companion animals though the portrait process. Alongside my VeganMe creative efforts, is Zen Room Creations, a creative partnership with Marnie Tyson of WindGypsy Designs. At Zen Room Creations we design, experiment with, and handcraft jewelry. I have been vegan for over 20 years and vegetarian a bit longer. I believe it is important to use only cruelty free products in my day to day life as well as in my art. All of my artwork is created using cruelty free materials (synthetic bristle brushes, paints with pigments that do not contain animal derived ingredients, pencils and pens with no animal derived pigments, vegan art paper, canvas made without rabbit skin glue, etc). I currently reside in Seattle, WA with my family of adopted and rescued animals that includes my three dogs, Fizz Gig the gregarious squirrel obsessed Cairn Terrier, Maggie Mouse the fluffy dance maniac American Eskimo, and Rumo the cheeky toothless Chihuahua, as well as Miette the “evil” devil in an angel’s costume kitty, and Bailey the sassy Amazon Parrot, the newest member of the family, who is currently refining his art critic skills, all of whom can usually be found sleeping under my art table or desk, on my lap, or perched nearby. -Vicki Nelson, VeganMe Owner and Artist