Melody Cleary
Artist Biography
I was an incessant doodler as a child. Born and raised in Portland,
Oregon, the youngest of seven children, I was very spunky and tenacious
but would never excel at physical activities due to an early onset
neuropathy. So, the visual arts held great appeal to me since grade
school.
I watched my father who was very skilled at drawing and drew many designs for granite & marble memorials during his long engraving career in Portland. So, from watching him, I began to draw. My mother took note when I earned a blue ribbon in grade school for a pencil portrait of my teacher and a purple ribbon in my high school student art show She enrolled me in art classes at a local art center when I was a teen and from then on, I was hooked.
In the 70s I studied drawing and oil painting with local professional artists at Art Center West in Tigard OR, now long gone. As a working adult, I moonlighted by taking classes at community college and local art schools in life drawing, palette knife oil painting, watercolor, acrylic and basic design. After early retirement in 2000, I devoted my time to continued media and color exploration with acrylics, watercolors and collage
Artist's Statement
I convey, through my art, my emotional response to color and design in nature and our world... to celebrate it. I love traditional landscape and still life as well as abstract painting or collage and the process of allowing a work to just evolve not knowing where I'll end up. Some works on paper find new life and contribute a piece to an abstract collage. Many times, subjects or patterns that have movement inspire me, such as water and swimming fish. Whatever the subject, I strive for rich color. I also am inspired by the dramatic effect of sunlight and shadows as well as reflections. I like a painting to be an uplifting visual respite from our busy daily lives-- to quote Picasso: "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." Indeed, it does. |
