The holiday edition of the Village of Catalina Art Festival will be held Dec.15 -16 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the16733 N, Oracle Road in Catalina.

The festival is free and they are expecting 60 artists and artisans. There will be art, music and food for everyone’s enjoyment.

The featured artist will be Nikki Bellio. Bellio is fromTucsonwhere she has lived since 1993. She is originally fromBostonMassachusetts.

Bellio says she loves Tucson and the desert. She is a member of theSonoranDesertMuseumandTohonoChulPark.

Bellio has been painting and drawing since she was a kid and working with watercolors for quite some time. She majored in communication design at the Rochester Institute of Technology inRochesterNew York. After graduating she pursued a career in graphic design.

In her last job she traveled all over the country working as an Art Director for a women’s apparel catalog. After being laid off, Bellio decided to be a full time watercolor painter.

She is a juried member of the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild (SAWG) and has paintings displayed at the SAWG Gallery in the River Center Plaza.

She has also had her work displayed at Tohono Chul Park and will be showing her work at an upcoming show in Tubac.

Bellio is working on expanding her business out to Sedona, Tubac and other parts of the country. Her feelings about art are expressed on her website where she says, “My desire is to create images that can improve people’s lives and add beauty and peace to their homes.”

Bellio can be found at the 77north Artworks & Marketplace most Fridays at the farmers market displaying her paintings as well as custom design beaded jewelry, cards and journals. Her work is also available at BellioDesign.com.

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