Melissa Anderson
Greenville, SC
Impressionist painter. Abstract thinker, inspired by color, carried by paint to undiscovered places.
MessageBorn and raised in South Carolina, the south runs through my veins and my paint brush. I call Greenville, SC home, where I have lived and raised my children for more than 30 years. As a former lawyer turned artist, I learned to look for the intricacies in the every day. I have a constant urge to create, and my outlet is through contemporary impressionist painting.
I have trained with some of my heroes and fellow artists around the world, and love to play with different styles of painting. I'm inspired by the colors and the stories around me. The canvas is my outlet, my haven. I aspire to bring the viewer through my lens and into my perspective, feeling, smelling, tasting the scenery that I can't help but be entranced by.
Statement
My inspiration comes in flowers, still life, landscapes and figures. I am driven by the shapes and colors of the subject matter but only as a starting point. I am interested in the way the paint is applied to the canvas - brushwork and the mix of colors create the design. My canvas has a clear subject but I use color and tools to alter the design, softening the edges.
Usually the subject matter and source of a painting reflects the tenor of my life outside the studio. Flowers become important as they bloom in the yard, eventually making it into a vase on the kitchen counter. While drinking coffee, the vase beckons the canvas and brush. Landscapes and the magical horizon line draw me into the ocean line, the marsh, the mountain ridge. I often paint landscapes in a calm state with mystical wandering into the canvas. Figures, particularly female ones, can be especially alluring and mysterious. Who is this person and how does she fit into the room?
My paintings take on various stages. Usually the clean canvas is quickly covered in a thin layer of moving colors. The subject appears and I then start layering the paint to build the image, giving it weight.
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