I create professional polish for art collectors who appreciate good taste
I create paintings & sculpture for people with exceptional taste to fit the caliber of their environments - be it home, office or poolside in Southern California. Works are abstract, figurative and nature based and are meant to scale up or down. I possess an international point of view, a refined palette, a designers mind, an artists imagination, a craftsperson's skill, an innovator's passion all in service to the love of beauty and people.
About Melanie
I am an artist completely driven by high standards of design and am unreasonably sensitive to color. I have an allergic reaction to spaces that are pedestrian. I understand the delicate song between artwork that takes center stage and the artworks that are the strong supporting actor. I think in terms of space - emotion and good taste.
Qualifications
I have a MFA in Digital Arts & New Media from the University of California Santa Cruz (Regents Scholarship) and a BFA (sculpture, painting & print) from Stanislaus California University. I also have several business certificates including construction, My non fine art working background includes: luxury kitchen & bath design (including project planning & construction), digital arts & business development.
Since 2021 I have been studying fused art glass under the glass artist (aka the maestro) Narcissus Quagliata and now his son Orfeo. Fused art glass is newer field and only truly emerged in the 80ies with the innovation of the kiln controller. The glass manufacturers also only began to make fuseable art glass capable of surviving and being stable at temperatures in 1500 degree range at the same time. . Additionally the cost of entry is so exorbitant that it disuades even the most entranced younger person who hasn't aquired the investment yet. It's also a field so new that documentation and experimentation and community is sparse. So all that and I've never met any artform as exciting as fused glass. The museums and gallery have yet to catch up to it's potential and value, but those who understand its lightfast excellence make it a medium more stable than any canvas could attain. Add transparency into the mix - and you have time magic. That is a discussion for another time, my friend.
I taught Color & Design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in San Fransisco, User Experience at the Art Institute in Sacramento and Web Design & Scenic Painting at colleges in southern California, in addition to my TAships in Theater design, Art 2D & 3D. I currently teach an online color and design course for glass artists through Shangri La Art Glass to a world wide community I began establishing in 2022.