Today we’d like to introduce you to Mel Rea
Hi Mel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m currently an abstract painter but have pursued a variety of directions in my art career. I started as a clay sculptor, creating large figurative pieces. My figures often relied on imaginary characters, while others referenced historical. I held a particular affection for Egyptian and Japanese cultural dressing traditions. After years of devotion to clay, I pursued a desire to paint.
My first painting medium was encaustics (painting with molten beeswax). My inspiration came from my grandfather who spent his childhood in Russia. The farm that was nearest to my grandfather’s childhood farm was an apiary. It became his sanctuary for respite, and he dreamed of having his own bee farm. His dream came true as an adult in the States. As a young girl, I felt a sense of peace walking amongst my grandfather’s hives. I developed a deep connection, respect, and appreciation for Mother Nature. Like many artists, nature is a constant source of inspiration.
While foraging through my grandfather’s belongings after his passing, I found a bucket of wax from the last of his hives. At this point, I had only heard of painting with beeswax. The history of encaustics (dating to Greek artists as far back as the 5th century B. C.) appealed to my sense of nostalgia. This became a pivotal moment in my art career. It was with that old bucket of beeswax, that I taught myself to paint.
Since that time, I’ve experimented with every variety of painting medium I could find. My current body of work is process-based painting being rooted in intuition and spontaneity. I relinquish control and allow the painting to unfold while following its own logic of movements and colors. I’m currently working with acrylic and gouache, though this is always subject to change as I am ever-evolving.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth sailing?…um, no. Like all dreamy pursuits, the financial risk was daunting. I opted to go all out and work full-time as an artist very early on. I adjusted my lifestyle to accommodate a meager income. There was a point while living in Los Angeles that a dinner out was an art opening where I would squirrel away cheese and crackers laid out for potential patrons. I wore only hand-me-down clothes and cut my own hair for years. It makes me laugh at my younger self now. The financial stress grew deep roots in my young psyche. To this day, I worry that my last sale is my LAST sale. But sales continue, and life has become very kind to me.
Self-doubt is an ongoing obstacle. It’s funny, some days I feel like I have the golden touch to every task. That feeling is sandwiched between days that I wonder how I sell anything at all. I often wonder what I ate the night before to create this emotional waffling effect. But I wake up knowing confidently that being an artist is exactly how I was meant to spend my life. For that, I’m eternally grateful.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m proud that my work feels authentically me. Amongst other inspirations, I pull from several artists I super-stalk with deep affection. I imagine myself a Frankenstein of sorts, taking pieces and parts of beloved artists to fashion them into my own work. A few artists that I particularly fancy are Cecily Brown, Joan Michell, Jade Fadojutimi, and Claire Tabouret. In the end, my work becomes very much my own. I’ve grown fond of the person I’ve become, and I want that embedded into my work.
I believe that art holds its own spirit. I feel a responsibility to make sure I stay connected to a piece to ensure that I’m creating layers of spiritual depth. If I feel myself disconnecting, I go eat a sandwich!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.melrea.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mel_rea_art/
