When Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, owner of the Seattle Seahawks and art collector died last week leaving behind no spouse and no children, questions immediately arose about the future of his projects. His impact on Seattle, on the world, and in art was substantial. About two years ago he displayed some of his amazing…
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Oil painter living in Seattle.
See my work at www.melissamesserart.com or on Instagram @melissamesserart
Those Who Teach
In August I studied in New York at Grand Central Academy. Two consecutive weeklong workshops offered a rare opportunity to draw the figure for one week with Colleen Barry and then use the drawing to paint the same pose the following week in a figure painting workshop with Edward Minoff and Katie Whipple. Here are…
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The Lemon Branches
For the third year in a row the school year has ended in a blur of events, travel, scramble-scramble-scrambling to finish paintings, shows, trying to ignore distractingly good weather and not getting nearly enough sleep. There’s so much about Third Year I want to share with you and have record of before immersing in summer…
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Alla Prima Portrait Workshop with Irvin Rodriguez
Last week I took a super fun and extremely challenging alla prima portrait workshop instructed by a great young painter named Irvin Rodriguez. Irvin and I met almost a year ago at the Frye Museum while I was copying a painting in the gallery. He introduced himself and asked if I was training in an atelier, because…
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A History of Teachers
(Featured image: Beer and Oysters II by Jacob Collins, Oil on Canvas, 12 x 20″, 2007) Over the weekend I escaped our soggy Seattle spring to sunny LA where I wore sunglasses and visited the Getty Museum for the first time. I’m on a two week spring during which I took a weeklong alla prima portrait workshop…
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Preston at the Ruins
We are finally at the part of the year where the poses shift from short studies to longer, more realized paintings. Preston posed for us for about three weeks. He’s a trained dancer and you can see this in the finished painting because of how he was able to support his carriage through posture throughout a…
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Good News in Threes
You remember I mentioned in the last post that I started 2017 with a flu? Well, sad I couldn’t be back in the studio, I spent that time (literally) feverishly applying for scholarships and casting for a few new opportunities. Recently some wonderful gifts caught the line. Yesterday I checked my email during the long break…
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A Few Studies to Begin 2017
This is my third January as an atelier student and I have come to love the beginning of the calendar year which, in atelier life, comes after several weeks away from the easel while we break for the holidays. By mid January, when we begin again, our brains have rested and the dust has settled. All…
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New Website and New Blog Address
Hey gang, I finally made a website with my portfolio of work. The website’s address is www.melissamesserart.com and I have linked this blog to it (you can see the “Art Monk Blog” link in the image of the home page above in the upper right corner). UPDATE – To access the blog directly without going to…
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A Few for the Ages
I often go into periods of infatuation with artists whose work effortlessly illustrates a skill I’m trying to learn. I’ll read all I can about them and make studies of their work. But I have several enduring favorites. I’d like to introduce them to you through my eyes, although many or most you already know: Da…
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Art Monk 