Burstall gal transforms hats into small pieces of art

By Joan Janzen

Melanie Field from Burstall knows how much people from the prairies love hats! So last summer, she began working her artistic magic, transforming ordinary caps into works of art. “I’ve been painting on hats,” Melanie announced on Facebook. “Each one is a small piece of art.”

Melanie has a degree in fine arts, but she also has four children who she homeschools, as well as farming alongside her husband in the Burstall area. She’s one busy lady!

Melanie Field from Burstall, is surrounded by her display of hand painted hats.

“Time is so limited with four kids. And we’re homeschooling right now as well. This seems to work really well. It just kind of happened,” Melanie said, explaining how her artistic venture began. “I used to do big pieces, but it didn’t work well with having kids at home; it wasn’t the time or place for that.” But then she got the idea to paint hats.

The family is in the midst of renovating their home in Burstall, so Melanie utilizes space in the basement to do her art.

“It’s kind of fun. It’s a little thing and not so overwhelming,” Melanie said about her new endeavour. “The kids wear them all the time, and hats are not so hard-wearing. In the beginning, it was stuff I thought my boys would like. I got ideas from Pinterest, and there’s lots of landscape around here for ideas.”

“It’s just sort of something I do; I didn’t intend it to be a business,” Melanie said. However, she has painted over thirty hats so far, some of which are displayed at Squirrely Shirley’s Coffee Shop in Leader and Burstall Fuels. She is looking at placing them in ski shops to generate a broader audience.

She begins by purchasing quality hats, uses a primer, acrylics, and sprays the finished product with a clear coat. Completing the finished product can take between four to fifteen hours. Melanie said, “I can get carried away if I’m doing custom work for someone and really want them to like it.”

When it comes to hats, it looks like Melanie has something for everyone. Her unique designs include pictures of an owl, cat, bunny, dragon, iguana, frog, duck and octopus. There’s also an Alberta landscape, purple and gold forest, fish forest and a back road scene to choose from.

Both kids and adults love Melanies’ hats. “My husband went to Medicine Hat today, and he was wearing one,” she said. You can find her small pieces of art on Instagram at mfield.art

“It’s fun for now, but I don’t know if I want to do it forever,” she said. “It can be quite restrictive painting on wearable items; I might transition back to canvas eventually.”

So, if you’re interested in a hand-painted hat, this may be a “limited-time offer” that you won’t want to miss.