'Painter of the West and its Wild'
The palette of rich color Melody uses to recreate the images of the west come alive with each stroke of her brush. Over the years Melody has been called 'prolific' in her creative abilities.
Artist Biography:
For over 13 years Melody has been using her Art and Music to educate and bring awareness to the Wild Mustang.
As a young child, Melody worked in pencil, pastels, watercolor and oils. In her teens and early adult years watercolor became her favored of mediums. She stepped away from her artistic gift in her mid twenties, only to pick it up again with a deep passion in her later adult years. Making the move west, after living in the southeast coast and mountains most of her life, ignited a passion to begin her painting career full time as a Fine Artist. Melody spent several years traveling the west in her first vintage tin-can RV known as 'The Mustang Mansion' studying and exploring the wests wild mustang, wildlife and rangeland she vividly captures giving her a deep realistic artistic approach in her work. She continues that journey in her 2nd vintage tin-can inspired by her two former mustangs, 'Sierra Cancion and Sierra Rosa', her second vintage RV known as 'The Little Red Roan'. She has spent years visiting public range lands throughout numerous states across the west to living with a large herd of wild horses on a 5500 acre sanctuary. She has owned her own adopted wild and domestic horses learning social and herd behavior up close and personal, continuing to learn the lessons of the horse and wildlife as she lived wild' on an expansive rugged ranch in northern New Mexico with her horses, dogs and cats. Her connection to the wild mustang, the rangeland and other wildlife is evident in her collection of wild horse, eq-uine, landscape and wildlife works.
Her work has been showcased in Taos NM, Jackson Hole WY, Santa Fe NM, Las Vegas NM, Ft Collins CO, Westcliffe CO, Angel Fire NM. Melody had her own gallery in Las Vegas NM and in Westcliffe CO, and now has a focus on travel, and showcasing in shows across the West
Melody calls Westcliffe, Colorado her home in the high desert of southern Colorado. The views of the Sangre de Cristo's inspire the outdoor beauty from her studio. When she is not in the studio painting, Melody also writes music, playing guitar and performing music and riding her horses. Melody has a great appreciation for the outdoors and nature, and you can find her in the outdoors of ranch living. Travel and Living ranch life affords great opportunity to study the local wildlife and flora year round adding to the process of creativity. Melody continues to travel and photograph the west and its wild, enriching her study and using her experiences and photographs to recreate on canvas.
Member of Cowgirl Artists of America
Associate member of Women Artists of the West
Artist Statement:
I began drawing and painting at an early age and took pastels, drawing and oil painting until my pre-teen years. As I entered high school my strongest classes were art where I showed potential in several mediums including pencil, pastel, watercolor and oil painting. As I graduated high school, I won a scholarship for Crealde’ Art Institute where I took photography and general art classes for a semester.
From there, outside of occasional entries in local art shows the remainder of my art learning has been self-taught. One of my first early jobs was working in a gallery for a couple of years where I learned matting, framing, sales etc. During these years I would spend a lot of time with pencil drawings, mostly horses even then as they have always been a passion of mine. From my mid-twenties to late forties, my art took a back seat and was very sporadic.
At 49 years old, I made my move from the east to the west to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. It was then that I made the decision to get back to my true self as an artist. With my love for the horse still, I began painting full time in my makeshift home studio. Within two months I took my first trip out to NW Colorado to the Sand Wash Basin Herd Management Area. It was here, on 160,000 acres of wild land that I met my first mustang, and found a purpose in my creativity, Painting the west and its wild.
Over the last 13 years I have completed well over 450 works of art of the wild mustang and the land they inhabit. I have enjoyed speaking at a variety of events over the years sharing the beauty of our wild and the wild mustang in art and song. 13 years later, I am just as passionate, if not more, to use my creative skills to continue to paint the wild mustang, the land, and the wild sharing the beauty of the west.
I have, and continue to travel extensively throughout numerous states, with regions still yet to cover! I have had the privilege of seeing our raw and wild land up close and personal on vast public lands. As the painting has been cultivated by this wildlife, so has the music as I have written songs inspired from time on the range. I do believe I have found my authentic self as an artist and have continued from its beginnings 13 years ago to chart this path I am on. I have painted murals on two vintage RV’s. The first known as ‘The Mustang Mansion’ and the second, ‘The little Red Roan’. It has been a pure joy traveling across the west sharing the beauty of our wild with the public in art and song.
This artistic journey has unfolded incredible blessings and opportunities from having a small herd of my own over the last 22 years, including mustangs. I have lived much like a gypsy for most of my life, and just recently moved to Westcliffe Colorado as my partner and I build a life here on a small ranch that overlooks the majestic Sangre de Cristo range. I’m excited to grow roots here in the community. I have been offering summer, spring and soon fall painting classes here along with joining the local art guild and showcasing art here locally. After 13 years of painting, I find that I am continually inspired to keep painting, keep growing in my skill as an artist, to continue traveling and seeing more of our west, and the wild that calls it home.
Comments