Biography

I began painting with only one brush and three tubes of paint during a sabbatical from my career in law. Oil painting opened the door to exploring the world around me, discovering the colors and shapes that inspire my work though textures, color and subject. 

My focus is the world within the four corners of the canvas, with still lives, landscapes and figures as my primary themes. Once the paint begins to cover the canvas, the painting takes on a life of its own becoming an abstraction of reality through brushwork, the softening of edges, and the layering and mixing of color.

With a raw desire to create, my mind moves from one visual to another melding colors, shapes and forms. I stand before the easel daily because I want to know what would happen if I tried a different method, scraped the canvas, added blue rather than red. The result is an abundance of works that invariably demonstrate a colorist approach to my palette, while my forms range from loose to substantially real.

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EDUCATION

1989 University of South Carolina, Juris Doctor

1985 Honors College of University of South Carolina, BA cum laude in Political Science, French minor

1985 University of Sorbonne, Paris, France, certificate in French Language

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015 “ELEGANCE OF NATIVE SOUL” Michael Mitchell Gallery, King St., Charleston, SC

2014 “HIDDEN TREASURES: Landscapes of South Carolina,” Greenville Chamber of Commerce

2013 “MY MUSE - Inside the Studio,” Art & Light Gallery, Greenville, SC, May

2011 “WORKS by MELISSA ANDERSON,”  Centre Stage, Greenville, SC

“COLORS OF MY WORLD,” Chamber of Commerce, Greenville, SC

2010 “COCKTAILS & ART,” Artist in Residence, Greenville, SC

2009 “COLORS OF MY PALETTE,” Artist in Residence, Greenville, SC

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016 “ARTISTS TOUCHED BY CARL R. BLAIR,” Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville

“KÄR’Ne-VeL: A CELEBRATION OF ARTISTIC REVELRY” Greenville Center for Arts

2014 “THE SEED FAIRY COMES,” Art & Light Gallery, Greenville, SC

2013 “ARTISTS OF THE UPSTATE JURIED EXHIBITION,” Greenville, SC

2012 “JURIED MEMBERS EXHIBITION,” Corse Gallery & Atelier, Jacksonville,, FLA

2011 “FROM A to V,” Merge at Innovate, Greenville, SC 

“FLAT OUT UNDER PRESSURE,” Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville, SC

2010 “ARTISTS OF THE UPSTATE JURIED EXHIBITION” Centre Stage, Greenville, SC

“12 x 12,” Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville, SC

“FLAT OUT UNDER PRESSURE,” Metropolitan Arts Council, Greenville, SC

GALLERIES:

Mary Praytor Gallery, Greenville, SC

COLLECTIONS:

Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC

Greenville-Spartanburg Airport, Concourse B

Greenville Hospital System

Office of Congressman Trey Gowdy, Washington, DC

The City of Greenville, Office of Mayor Knox White 

County Bank, Greenville, SC

Kent Worldwide Development

McCall House, Simpsonville, SC

The Cascades, Greenville, SC

Greenville High School

Arrowood & Arrowood