Bill Ryan/The Gazette Melinda Byrd talks about her art work at her home in Woodbine last Friday. Byrd has answered nature's call to devote her life to art and runs a successful artist haven, Byrdcalls Studio.

And inside her home guests are treated to a melange of her artistic talents, from tablemats to wall art to glassware on display to show off the beauty she finds in all aspects of nature.

Her home is full of light and life, with wide, open windows. Her workroom is covered in her work; bags of sketchbooks are hidden in every nook. T-shirts, which she screen prints herself, cover a small work place

"All my life, I've had two passions," said Byrd. "Nature and art."

She has always been involved in art, but five years ago she said goodbye to a 9-5 job and focused strictly on her art.

For the first chapter of her life, Byrd worked in an area nature center, a job she stumbled on for being in the right place at the right time ­ and for loving art.

The center needed an artist for some brochures and hired Byrd on the spot. But about five years ago, Byrd said, she felt she was slipping away from her passions.

Her job, while she enjoyed it, became too administrative, she said, pulling her away from what she loved best. "I wasn't involved with nature anymore," she said. "And absolutely not involved in art."

So she decided to quit her job and make art a career, which she's been successful doing since.

"Life is too short," she said, to do something one doesn't enjoy. And for her, art was a passion left unfulfilled. Now, her passion has been involved in every day life and has grown.

She started painting glasses after a friend just asked if she could. Byrd did. "I have a knack for it," she said, showing off her intricate glassware designs, from summer cicadas to spring time birds or just a cherished pet immortalized on glass.

She said because she gets so involved in her art, any one type she could do full-time. That's how she approaches each project, with her full attention.

Byrd said she finds beauty in all parts of nature and translates those discoveries to her art. "I see beauty in lots of things," she said, even those animals that are not so cuddly. She said she finds animals that are less appreciated by people and gives them beauty.

For example, she painted a cicada on glassware, showing off the insect's delicate wings and bright red eyes.

But she also paints and draws more typical animals too, especially dogs. In fact, her beloved dog Hooper is a model for several paintings, a mask, and even a screen-printed block design called "Knotty Dogs." Three black dogs are laid out in a triangle with roots surrounding them. "Knotty Dogs" was actually a class assignment for a Celtic drawing class that has become a part of her product line.

"I don't draw anything because it will sell," Byrd said. "I'm picky enough to only do what I love," which is nature and animals.

But if people request something personal, she's happy to oblige, Byrd said.

If people understand and appreciate her artwork, that's all that matters to the veteran artist. "If people just look at nature in a different light, that makes my day," she said.

Byrd is inspired everyday, and takes along a sketchbook wherever she goes to draw what she sees and encounters.

She has dozens of sketchbooks filled with snapshots of her life. Some sketches of musicians are drawn in such a way they show the rhythm of the musician's tunes, or how Byrd felt drawing them.

For example, on the night she and her friends found out John Lennon had died, she drew some sad pictures of Lennon and also of her friends reactions.

She often attends concerts or series such as the Common Ground on the Hill and sketches performers. She can get close enough to draw them since most are "honored" to be drawn.

Byrd has made a lot of friends with her sketches, from pubs to performances. "It's a whole different experience of doing art," she said. "You can meet people and have a lot of fun."

When she's not involved in her artwork, you can find Byrd brewing her own beer, cooking healthy vegetarian meals (although she's not a vegetarian herself) and working hard in the elaborate garden that surrounds her home. She even grows her own vegetables.

"I make everything," she said. She also likes to travel, and finds inspiration for her artwork on her trips. She also loves to cross country ski and bike; being outdoors, surrounded by nature, truly make Byrd content.

But most of the time, Byrd is involved in her artwork, either for business or for pleasure.

She tries to be different from other artists' works--and she is. She offers a personal insight into nature from her view.

She also approaches art with a right brain way of thinking, she said, meaning the artistic side of her brain versus the logical side, which she had used in her previous jobs.

In science, her previous job, she knew how to educate and "demystify" science for others and she continues to do this in her work.

However, for her, watercolor art is a more left brain type of thinking, because everything has to be well thought out.

Perhaps that's why watercolor is not her favorite art form.

"The right brain is connected to the heart," she said, leaving the left to be more analytical. She said she can tell when a piece has been created using just logic versus the heart.

Byrd wants to inspire people with her art, but also just wants people to be inspired enough to just smile more, "and see humor and beauty all around them," Byrd said.

To see some of Byrd's work, you can visit her web-site at www.byrdcallstudio.com or even stop by Two Paws Up in Frederick to see her work on display.

She will also be teaching a couple sessions this summer on making some of her unique artistic creations such as floorcloths. For more information, visit her web-site or call her at 410-549-4889.