Melanie Boone (Kunst)

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Always present in Melanie Boone is the celebration of nature, which she has held in her heart since she was a small child growing up in Southern California. This love was nurtured by her mother in countless visits to the beach where the family would head straight for the tide pools, or in the many camping trips where she and her three siblings went rock hunting and looking for fossils. The sound of the rock polisher grinding away to perfect the treasures they found is a fond childhood memory.

Although Melanie is the only person in her family to become an artist, she says that her mother had a flair and style in everything she did that could only be described as artistic. Her architect father, too, was a very creative individual. But most unusual was her paternal great-grandfather, who, although blind and deaf, grew prize flowers. She cherishes a photo of him standing in front of his garden and keeps it prominently displayed in her home.

Melanie wanted to be an artist for as long as she could remember. At the age of six, she won an art contest in Laguna Beach, and throughout her childhood, whenever she could make enough money to buy painting supplies, she would indulge her passion.

As fate would have it, Melanie was tutored in grade school by a wonderful woman, Elsa Salvison, for her dyslexia. But more importantly to Melanie, Elsa was a mosaic artist who invited Melanie into her home, shared her love of art and allowed her to work in her home studio.

Melanie enjoyed her art classes in high school, but it was after viewing an art exhibit by Edward Kienholz at the age of 16 that she gained the confidence to trust herself and follow her own path. His "fearless art" was strong and powerful and awoke her to new possibilities that she could explore. Interestingly, years later, Melanie took her then-teenage daughter to an exhibit by Kienholz, and her daughter experienced the same feelings her mother had felt so many years earlier.

After high school, Melanie enrolled in Fullerton California Junior College where she was introduced to pottery, a new medium for her, and loved it. Never doubting that she would become an artist, during her two years spent at Fullerton, she learned many techniques including drawing, jewelry making, assemblage art and painting in every medium. Abstract art was and remains a passion for Melanie.

With school completed and staunchly determined to find a career in art, Melanie made a gutsy move, working in Watts at a production art studio. She was now also a single mother making her career even more important. Although the working conditions were difficult, she turned what could have been a negative experience into a positive one, learned many more techniques and mastered the process of silk screening. The intense pressure to complete 50 pieces a week caused her to rely on her natural ability for organization and design. It was not long until she was able to move on to a better studio that produced higher quality work, and again, Melanie continued to grow in her artistic abilities. Creating the color silk screens, she was now able to draw the designs and frequently used the beautiful flowers that she loves so much.

Melanie's reputation was growing. She was active in performance art and was teaching workshops in various colleges including UCLA. She and a friend started a studio together where they could be assured that the quality of work going out would be very high. Those years were another high-growth period for her.

When an opportunity to teach children was presented to Melanie, she and her daughter moved from Los Angeles to Yosemite for four years. Describing the time as wonderful, she continued working on silk screening in addition to teaching art to children, which she found very rewarding.

Eventually, all of the years Melanie had spent working with silk screens began to take a toll on her health due to the toxic inks used, and she had to make a change. Rosenbaum Fine Art had approached her, and with another leap of faith, she moved back to California and began anew. It was perfect, and she says Rosenbaum has always been very nurturing, supportive and open to new ideas. It has a family feeling and was a "lifesaver" for her. Because of this association, she is able to live where she wants, and a few years ago, she chose to move to the Northwest to a rural community with many other artists. She's now been with Rosenbaum for over 20 years.

Although Melanie can work in any medium, she currently paints multi-media pieces. Always a collector of things found in nature, she never lacks for items to blend into her work such as feathers or bone fragments. Deeply enamored by Asian art and history, Melanie incorporates this exotic look into her art, but she enjoys mixing cultures and may add a piece of fabric from Bali onto a drawing that appears to have a traditional Chinese look. Gold leaf is another favorite enhancement used in her collages. She stains everything creating an antiqued look. At present, all of her paintings have borders that are made from hand-dyed silks that she creates herself.

Melanie has a list of artists she deeply admires, one of those being her 32-year-old daughter, "who is a deeply talented and a wonderful artist," she says. At this point, Melanie's life and art have melded together so completely that it is not possible to separate them. Collecting antique kimonos that are displayed in her home and hiking to enjoy nature and find more pieces for her art work are two hobbies she enjoys. In the future, she would love to have the opportunity to visit Japan and see and learn more about wood block printing and the history of the kimono. Melanie says that "art is a calling and she had no choice but to answer." With talent, determination, and dignity, Melanie has answered her calling beautifully, leaving behind a wealth of artwork that can be enjoyed by everyone with the pleasant knowledge that there will be more to follow.

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