“When someone sees my art, I want them to come away with a good feeling,” said Patchogue-based artist Mireille Belajonas. “Artists create to reveal and remind us what, perhaps, has not been seen.”

Originally starting with watercolors, Belajonas has found a perpetual muse in nature, specifically the softness or the rebirth of plant life.

“What we have to do is treasure and take care of nature as it takes care of us,” said Belajonas.

Her artwork is of a paradoxically maddening detail, with profound proclamations on what it is to be at peace with the world.

Originally from Belgium, Belajonas grew up studying the work of the grandmasters as part of regular school outings.

“Rubens’s art was introduced to me as a child, along with da Vinci sketches, and trips to the cathedrals,” said Belajonas. “It all started there. I saw art and thought, I’m going to do that.”

Fairytale books with intricate illustrations and regal covers also served as an influence for Belajonas and her genuflection of the magic touching the natural world.

Belajonas also takes inspiration from local artists as well. Eileen Palmer, a fellow member of the artist group Women Sharing Art, based in Bayport, has a “completely different way” of approaching her artwork, and Belajonas “loves the way she looks at life.”

“When you read about her art, it shows a beautiful thought process. She is a true artist,” said Belajonas.

While nature can be a destructive, brutal force, Belajonas’s creations are borne from the “gentle, but heard” side of nature that tends to rely on a feminine perspective to come through to a viewer.

“I see the value in anger, in being in protest, but that’s not who I am,” said Belajonas.

“I prefer the softer side. I don’t want to punch the message to get through; I want to say what I have to say and let it grow as an idea,” said Belajonas.

While the majority of Belajonas’s work is in watercolor, when she was asked to do a pet portrait she ventured into colored pencils and eventually acrylic paint.

“What attracted me most to watercolor was that it allowed for the most detail to be captured,” said Belajonas. “But for a pet portrait, it would have taken ages in watercolor.”

She maintains an open mind about new mediums, although oil painting is not likely one Belajonas expects to try.

“There’s still so much to learn, and you can learn things all over again. It can help you see new things and even if something goes wrong, it can still be a fun experience to do something different.”

Belajonas credits the broader art community of the South Shore, including the support she has from Women Sharing Art, which she describes as a sisterhood in “everyone being there to make each other stronger,” and the Patchogue Arts Council, which Belajonas says “always has good energy.”

“When you come together as a community, it serves your art because the hope is that you do it for other people.”