Melinda’s love of art started at a young age, inspired by her aunt who was an art therapist with the first nations people in Canada. Her affinity for art has deepened over the years, leading her to complete a Masters in Art Education from the University of Florida. Melinda paints impressionistic contemporary landscapes in oils and watercolor. She is invigorated by the fact much like exploring the outdoors, painting can never be truly conquered. There is always more to see and learn. She enjoys painting in an impressionistic style because much like her painting hero, Jill Carver, says, “The power of suggestion is a lot more interesting than the statement of certainty.” Her goal is to inspire more people to paint the great outdoors in Colorado Springs. One of the ways she is working on that is by teaching watercolor classes at Surface Gallery. She is inspired by her students and excited by what the next horizon will bring.
Currently Melinda’s main motif in her paintings is light. She would try to put it in her own words but John O’Donohue already summarised it perfectly in his work, “Anam Cara’.
“Ultimately, light is the mother of life. Where there is no light. there can be no life. If the angle of the sun were to turn away from the canh, all human, animal, and vegetative life, as we know it, would disappear. Ice would freeze the earth again. Light is the secret presence of the divine. It keeps life awake· Light is a nurturing presence, which calls forth warmth and color in nature. The soul awakens and lives in light. It helps us to glimpse the sacred depths within us.”
EDUCATION
University of Florida | Masters of Art Education | Capstone: Design Thinking | 2021
Trinity Christian College | Bachelor of Arts | Major: Graphic Design | 2010
Minors: English, Art History, Psychology
MEMBERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS
Associate Member of Plein Air Artist of Colorado
Research Interests
Global Diversity, Visual Data, Design Thinking, Plein Air Painting
PREVIOUS SHOWS & WORKSHOPS
Watercolor Classes, Surface Gallery 2023 - Present
Call & Response, Surface Gallery, 2025
Westside Whispers, Surface Gallery, 2024
Garden Amnesia, Surface Gallery, 2024
Italian Collection, Online Release with Surfari Studios, 2022
Design Thinking Workshop, Village Seven, 2021
Guest Instructor for Workshop Plein Air with Navigators, 2017-2019
Advisor to the Creative Visual Artist Group, 2017- 2022
Small Works Show with SPQR Gallery, 2016- 2017
Front Range, Creative Visual Artist Group, 2016
Mandala of Trauma, Seerveld Gallery, 2010
The Meta of Contemporary Art History, February, Seerveld Gallery, 2009