“Painting Completed my life.” Frida Kahlo

Melanie's work focuses on the mystery, beauty and power of nature. Primarily a painter she works interchangably with  watercolor, oil, acrylics, open acrylics and fiber arts.  Her work is meant to be what it is for her to create it, the pause, the deep breath, the calm.  

2020 - Continuing Female Painters Series-

Artist Statement

I have always enjoyed the therapeutic process of creation and wanted to share the healing energy of art with others. After all that is thrown at us through the news, social media, and advertising, I wanted my art to be the pause, the deep breath, and the calm. But during COVID, when many of us were forced into a debilitating pause, art was once again my savior. What began as a few pieces honoring female painters, prior to 2020, turned into a continuing series of nearly a dozen works. They gave me the courage to finish my own self-portrait entitled, “See No Evil.” I have always been fascinated with the language of flowers and they have been dominate in my work. Following this theme, blooms became an integral part of this series and each piece includes the artist surrounded by flowers plucked directly from their own work. My self-portrait “See No Evil” is comprised of flowers that represent my family and friends. They cover my eyes and shield me from the horrors of the world. In the unprecedented year of 2020, the mass shooting of 23, and all the major moments in our lives, it is our friends and family who are most important, and who despite everything close by or far away, in person or online, are our shield, our pause, our deep breath and our calm.