Michelle Peters's West Coast botanical graffiti is the featured art at Tarbell's Coffee Bar in Cumberland this month.

When she is not managing operations at the Cumberland Museum or running after her three children, Peters is most often playing with paint and exploring her 鈥渋nner punk.鈥�

She has discovered that the most satisfying painting method is a combination of spray, stencil, drizzle, brush and finger painting with a splash of extreme colour which she likes to call 鈥渨est coast botanical graffiti.鈥�

Peters studied art and art history at the University of Victoria and Concordia University in Montreal.

In Vancouver, she taught fine arts through the North Vancouver Art Council, the North Shore Recreation Commission and the Silk Purse Art Studio in West Vancouver for more than 10 years.

Peters has spent many hours teaching kids to enjoy painting outside of the lines. She has discovered that the best part of the creative process is found in these unconscious moments of childlike discovery and that painting is a dance with the partnership of colour, shape and form.

To follow or join the most recent escapades into the world of botanical graffiti, paint old doors, talk about abstract expressionism and/or history, look up Peters at pipunkd@blogspot.com or stop by the Cumberland Museum.

Programs for children are available on an ongoing basis at the Cumberland Museum. Classes feature a variety of methods, including laundry practices, sewing and textiles, multi ethnic food preservation and wild edibles, woodcraft and earthwork installations, community interviews and presentations.

鈥� Michelle Peters