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Melissa's Work

Melissa uses acrylics and distinctive brush techniques that bring to life images of animals and nature on archival quality canvas.

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Ivory Blossoms II

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Cherry Blossoms XIII

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Ivory Blossoms

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Cherry Blossoms XII

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The Dance

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Cherry Blossoms 11

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Silver Tip Grizzly

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Cherry Blossoms 10

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Sepia Blossoms with Moss

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Cherry Blossoms 9

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Gypsy

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Cherry Blossoms 8

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Sepia Blossoms

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Westley

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Giraffes

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Great Grey Owl

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White Lion

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Cherry Blossoms 7

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October

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Cherry Blossoms 6

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Cherry Blossoms 5

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Friesian

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Polar Bears

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African Elephant

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Sloth

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Bailey

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Golden Eagle

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Spring

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White Blossoms

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Dusk

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Dapple Gray

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White Birches

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Black Bear

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Gray Wolf

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Dogwood

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Silhouette

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Bougainvilleas

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Axis Stag

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Cherry Blossoms 4

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Snowy Egrets

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605

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Ghost Gum

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Bay Roan

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Cherry Blossoms 3

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White Arab

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Maple Leaf

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Mountain Ghost

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Acacia

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Lion

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Cherry Blossoms 1

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The Wood

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Birch Blaze

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Cherry Blossoms 2

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Yellow

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Mark's Work

Mark uses acrylics to create his abstract paintings on archival quality canvas. Pallete knives and other flat, rigid tools are used to scrape the paint, creating and reavealing layers of color and texture.

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Winston

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Henry

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Ashley

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Dominic

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Sgt. Rock

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Kaleidoscope

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Aquamarine

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Anna

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Roots

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Patches

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Roussillon

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Alabaster

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Vanishing_Point

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Ether

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Big White Duck

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Limbic Solitude

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Blue Hawaiian

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Cerebral Projections

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Convergence

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Tao Boötis

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Transition

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Bibimbap

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Diesel

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Accumulation III

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Accumulation II

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Structural Underpinnings

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Accumulation

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Intersection

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Whitewash

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Burned Out

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Moonscape

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Illusion

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Noughts and Crosses

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Chains

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Inclusions

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Tiger Fight POW

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Crude Taxonomy

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Sur la Table

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Dreamscape

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Quietude

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Red Pop

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Relic

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Dark Night

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Sea Battle!

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Cyclone

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Black Magic

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The Garden of Good and Evil

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Disco

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Half-life

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Plateau

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Distortion

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Red Robin

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Blue Band

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Wheel in the Sky

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Dragonflies

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Odd Duck

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The Watchers

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Serenity

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Manic Dispersion

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Midnight Oil

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After the Rain

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Banner of the Troll King

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Big Red

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No. 20

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Dreamcatcher

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Misty Lake

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Mostaza en Bolonia

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Comic Book

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Windstorm

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Red Orchid

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Sad Little Parade

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Jupiter

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IO (eye-oh)

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Umbrellas

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Big Red Sun

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Arctic Sunset

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Overpass

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In the Weeds

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Swamp Thing

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Geometric Approximations

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Crane

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Birthday Cake

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Meet the Painters

Melissa and Mark are a couple from the Midwest who now live in Chattanooga, TN, but have also called Austin, TX, Costa Rica and Panama their home.

Team Member

Melissa Gates

Juried Art Festivals past and future


Jan 25-26, 2020: St. Armands Circle Art Festival, Sarasota, Florida

Jan 18-19, 2020: Downtown Delray Beach Festival of the Arts, Delray Beach, Florida

Oct 24-26, 2019: Artclectic: University School of Nashville Art Show, Nashville, Tennessee

Oct 12-13, 2019: Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association: Fall Arts in the Park, Blue Ridge, Georgia

Oct 4-6, 2019: St. James Court Art Show (St. James Court section), Louisville, Kentucky

Sept 21-22, 2019: Alexandria King Street Art Festival, Alexandria, Virginia

Aug 31-Sept 2, 2019: Art in the Park, Marietta Georgia

June 8-9, 2019: Nashville National Fine Arts Festival (Howard Alan Events), Franklin, Tennessee

May 25-26, 2019: Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association: Spring Arts in the Park, Blue Ridge, Georgia

April 26-28, 2019: Magic City Art Connection, Birmingham, Alabama

April 14-14, 2019: Atlanta Dogwood Festival, Atlanta, Georgia

Feb 23-24, 2019: St. Petersburg Fine Art Festival, St. Petersburg, Florida

Oct 13-14, 2018: Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association: Fall Arts in the Park, Blue Ridge, Georgia

Sept 15-16, 2018: Creative Arts Guild Festival: Outdoor Artist Market, Dalton, Georgia

May 4-6, 2018: Tennessee Craft Fair, Nashville, Tennessee

April 20-22, 2018: 4 Bridges Arts Festival, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Accomplishments


Sept 14-Oct 19, 2018: Creative Arts Guild Festival: Indoor Patron Purchase Group Exhibit, Dalton, Georgia

Aug 31-Sept 19, 2018: Annual Juried Member Show at Association for Visual Artists, Chattanooga, Tennessee

July 20-27, 2018: “AVA’s Art Auction” group salon show at Association for Visual Artists, Chattanooga, Tennessee

June 1-22, 2018: “Childhood Memories of Summer” group exhibition at Chattanooga Workspace Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee

May 4-6, 2018: Emerging Maker at the 47th Annual Spring Tennessee Craft Fair, Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee

April 20-22, 2018: Emerging Artist at 4 Bridges Arts Festival, Chattanooga, Tennessee

August to December 2017: Exhibited at Reflections Gallery in Chattanooga, Tennessee

September 2017: Highlighted in Chatter Magazine with a full page feature of Cherry Blossoms

Jun 2017-Jun 2018: The Painted Story Children's Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Sep 3, 2017: Featured in the Arts/Books section of the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Received Honorable Mention from International Gallery of the Arts - Second Annual Animals and Wildlife competition for her Mountain Ghost. Her Bay Roan, Snowy Egrets and Axis Stag were also selected for inclusion in the exhibition

Mar-Apr 2017: "For Your Eyes Only" juried gallery show at Association for Visual Artists, Chattanooga, Tennessee

2016: Awarded 2nd place $2500 prize for her Cherry Blossoms Lg painting in the "Passion To Perform" international art contest which included approximately 3500 submissions from all four corners of the globe

Artist Statement


I began painting as a hobby in 2015. As I experimented, I discovered an innate ability to express my love of nature with precision and depth. I strive to create pieces that capture close-up beauty with an impressionistic style. Drama and emotion are expressed by juxtaposing an absence of color with intense color. Stippling is used to create an illusion of deep detail, while layers of pigment coax the image off of the canvas. I want the viewer to feel the sensations of the environment as well as the tactile nature of the subject. My compositions portray fleeting encounters with nature - that moment when you chance upon an animal in its natural state or an instant in the ancient and incomprehensible lifespan of a tree.

Biography


Melissa was born in Saginaw, MI in 1969. She has lived and worked in Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, Wyoming and Texas. During her morphing career life which included Computer Science, Accounting and Entrepreneurial ventures, Melissa was continually drawn to the inspiring beauty of trees and animals. She communed with that calling by immersing herself into the nature that surrounded her. After retiring, Melissa ventured to Central America to explore the tropical beauty of Costa Rica and Panama for three years. She is now settled in Chattanooga TN. Melissa's husband, Mark is an accomplished artist in his own right. Currently the two artists travel together throughout the United States exhibiting their work.
Team Member

Mark Gates

Juried Art Festivals past and future


Jan 25-26, 2020: St. Armands Circle Art Festival, Sarasota, Florida

Jan 18-19, 2020: Downtown Delray Beach Festival of the Arts, Delray Beach, Florida

Oct 24-26, 2019: Artclectic: University School of Nashville Art Show, Nashville, Tennessee

Oct 12-13, 2019: Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association: Fall Arts in the Park, Blue Ridge, Georgia

Oct 4-6, 2019: St. James Court Art Show (St. James Court section), Louisville, Kentucky

Aug 31-Sept 2, 2019: Art in the Park, Marietta Georgia

July 18-21, 2019: Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original, Ann Arbor, Michigan

June 8-9, 2019: Nashville National Fine Arts Festival (Howard Alan Events), Franklin, Tennessee

May 25-26, 2019: Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association: Spring Arts in the Park, Blue Ridge, Georgia

April 26-28, 2019: Magic City Art Connection, Birmingham, Alabama

April 14-14, 2019: Atlanta Dogwood Festival, Atlanta, Georgia

Feb 23-24, 2019: St. Petersburg Fine Art Festival, St. Petersburg, Florida

Oct 13-14, 2018: Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association: Fall Arts in the Park, Blue Ridge, Georgia

Sept 15-16, 2018: Creative Arts Guild Festival: Outdoor Artist Market, Dalton, Georgia

May 4-6, 2018: Tennessee Craft Fair, Nashville, Tennessee

April 20-22, 2018: 4 Bridges Arts Festival, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Accomplishments


Sept 14-Oct 19, 2018: Creative Arts Guild Festival: Indoor Patron Purchase Group Exhibit, Dalton, Georgia

July 20-27, 2018: “Surreal Deal” group exhibition at LIT Art Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee

July 20-27, 2018: “AVA’s Art Auction” group salon show at Association for Visual Artists, Chattanooga, Tennessee

June 1-22, 2018: “Childhood Memories of Summer” group exhibition at Chattanooga Workspace Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee

May 4-6, 2018: Emerging Maker at the 47th Annual Spring Tennessee Craft Fair, Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee

April 20-22, 2018: Emerging Artist at 4 Bridges Arts Festival, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Jun 2017-Jun 2018: The Painted Story Children's Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Oct 27-31, 2017: "Horrorshow II" exhibition group show at Swine Art Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Oct 20-31, 2017: "Senses" exhibition group show at LIT Art Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Mar-Apr 2017: "For Your Eyes Only" juried gallery show at Association for Visual Artists, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Artist Statement


I think a lot about the beauty in decay. The uniqueness of a surface made unsmooth by time or weather or use. The pattern of rust on an old car. A wall that has been painted and repainted, over and over with different colors and eventually abandoned to peel and chip away, revealing bits of what was. The images I make have been compared to shattered glass, snow on an old barn door. I'm always excited by a finished product that looks like something clean and whole and new that has been ravaged by some natural, organic process.

Biography


In 1972, Mark was born in Columbus, Ohio. His formal education was at Lancaster High School in Lancaster, Ohio and The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio where he earned his BA in journalism with a heavy emphasis on advertising and public relations. From 1997, he spent 14 years in Austin, Texas, working as a graphic designer, then prepress manager, then production manager for the Austin Chronicle. In 2011, he and his wife decided to try early retirement in Central America. They lived in Costa Rica and Panama for three years before falling in love with Chattanooga, Tennessee while visiting family in the area. They moved here permanently in 2014, purchased and remodeled a home, set up a studio and started painting. Mark's wife, Melissa is an accomplished artist in her own right. Currently the two artists travel together throughout the United States exhibiting their work.

Contact

Send us any questions or comments and let us know if you'd like to receive our newsletter.

PHONE, EMAIL & FACEBOOK

(423) 596-1162

Melissa: melissamrb@yahoo.com

Mark: gatesmcg@gmail.com

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