Louise Mellon's art will make you smile and inspire you with cheerfulness and vibrant color. Her subjects range from equine, canine and feline to polo, whimsey, mixed media, encaustic and dioramas. She also makes one-of-a-kind pieces from found objects, as well as acrylics and oil pastel. Have fun and a chuckle with Louise's creativity and humor.
About the artist:
Louise came from a family of artists and was encouraged and mentored by them from an early age. The request for a watercolor paint box was the ultimate bribe when she was ordered to sit still at age four for a photographic portrait. The formal portrait clearly shows the gleaming fifty cent piece she was rolling in her fingers that was for the purchase of a most cherished prize.
She grew up painting and riding and driving horses in Middleburg, Virginia, and now paints from her studio in Aiken, South Carolina. She also breeds Connemara ponies, and is on the Board of the Aiken Center of the Arts where she helps entice notables in the arts to Aiken to share their knowledge with others.
Her unusual paintings are always looked forward to at shows, and once buyers become collectors of her work, they are treated to extra gifts of works and discounts on future pieces.
Louise credits her family, her participation in many workshops, and courses taken at the University of South Carolina Aiken for the courage to do art that is different and frequently unexpected.
I've been hard at work in the studio this week! First, "Is Breakfast Ready Yet?", bottom left, is finished. I wish I had a better photo of it for you, but it goes today to be professionally photographed, and then prints will also be available.
Next is a re-painting of "The Wheelers", bottom right. This one is in the middle stages of completion.
And then a new one, "The Muse", top left. There will be an opportunity for a viewer to do a double-double take to figure this one out. Great fun!
And, finally, "HOPE!", top right. This is a mixed media work, experimental, and a great learning experience to work with new materials.
The foundation was poured for my new studio, and I've found many visitor, critter foot prints to be forever embedded in the now dry cement.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
I've added more contrast...the darks are darker with more delineation of the main shape from the background. Still more work to do on the face, but it's coming along. Just in case you want to see a pony I have for sale, you'll love the YouTube video I have up for him. Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT48ovSujSA and watch some of the tricks all the ponies here perform...and, of course, he paints!
I've added some cool yellows and greens in the background to give this piece more interest and placement in a morning environment. Still some corrections to make, but it's coming along well in time for my deadline for the Barn Book/Florida. Maybe I'll do another one so thet the Barn Book has a choice. Suggestions are always welcome!
Here is the next step of laying in colors, and starting to get the background lighting. I really have so much fun with these paintings, and I hope they bring you pleasure in seeing them come to life. Thanks for watching!
I got further along with this piece for the Florida Barn Book cover than I realized, and I'm sorry not to have shown you the basic drawing first. This is an oil pastel, 18" x 24" on Gesso Board, and they wanted a horse at a gate in a misty morning setting. My friend, Elin Pendleton, www.elinart.com, has a new DVD in the works on just this foggy lighting, and I wish I had it now to refer to. She is a master in different lighting and I encourage you to go view her work. This is just the first layer and there will be many more to come, with reflected colors of the morning sun trying to come through. Please feel free to coach me or offer suggestions!
I am taking a little departure from serious work into playing with my encaustic materials, which means building and painting with wax. A corner of my studio has been set up just for such play and I've included a piece in progress of a rooster. This will be whimsical and fun to hang on a wall.
I've also started an oil pastel for the Florida edition of the Barn Book and will include the sketch next time. Ground has been broken today on my new studio and I am looking forward to having enough room to stand up straight and not bump my head on the eaves on a regular basis...well, that's a true attic for you!
Here is Bareback and it goes to the photographer tomorrow. This is for the show, Women on Women, at the Aiken Center for the Arts. On to the next painting!
