Along with her first husband and fellow artist, George Joseph Mess, she was active in the Indianapolis and Brown County, Indiana, arts community.
[3] As a member of a musical family, she learned to play piano and several stringed instruments, including banjo, mandolin, and guitar, but she developed a strong interest in drawing at an early age and aspired to become an artist.
Following their marriage the couple set up an art studio in the living room of their home in suburban Broad Ripple.
“We shared everything we did in art and complemented each other.”[8] Evelynne Mess met her second husband, Edward Daily, a widower and Eli Lilly and Company retiree, in 1968.
It was unusual, in that time, for a woman to continue her career after marriage, but Evelynne Bernloehr Mess Daily loved her art too much to give it up.
[8][12] Evelynne Bernloehr Mess Daily’s artistic interest always lied with etching, inspired by the newspaper drawings of Frederick Polley, who taught her art at Arsenal Technical High School.
[6] Seeking inspiration and additional art instruction, Evelynne and George Mess spent the summer of 1929 studying at the École des Beaux-Arts at Fontainebleau, France, where she was especially interested in training with an experienced graveur, Achile Ouvré.
[6] At the end of the summer the couple spent additional time traveling and sketching in France, Switzerland, and Italy, before their return to the United States in the fall.
During these early years she created etchings from many of the sketches she had made in Europe, although her preferred method was to draw designs directly onto copper plates and use fast-acting acids to score the freehand work.
[6] While George remained heavily involved in directing and teaching at the Circle Art Academy during the day, Evelynne took over the tedious work of producing prints from his artwork.
[17] In 1934 Mess founded the Indiana Society of Printmakers and also organized a print show for the Woman's Department Club.
[19] In addition to maintaining a home/art studio in Indianapolis, the Messes purchased a 40-acre (16-hectare) farm outside of Nashville in Brown County, Indiana, in 1941.
[18] In 1967 Mess realized a longtime dream to open a summer art school at Oxbow Acres, her retreat in Brown County, Indiana.
Although the school emphasized printmaking, Mess and occasional guest instructors also offered instruction in painting, drawing, silk screening, and metal engraving, among other arts.
They married in 1969 and continued to reside in Brown County; however, after Daily's death in 1974, she returned to the home/art studio in Indianapolis that she had shared with her first husband, George.