Melissa Yarbrough

 

Melissa Yarbrough’s paintings are thick and lush with layers of paint applied one over

another. The colors seem to jump off the canvass and develop their shades and texture in mid air before they safely land back on the painting. The technique resembles woodcut reduction printmaking as much as traditional oil painting. The images are built up using shapes of color to define the motif through the negative space. Melissa uses bold colors with subtle hues in contemplative and balanced compositions.

 

Why are you an artist?

 

I honestly don't think I ever had a choice not to be.

 

What artists have influenced you, and how?

 

I am a huge fan of Matisse, hands down. Other "art school heroes" were the Bay Area figurative painters in the '50's and '60's  (Richard Diebenkorn, David Park,Elmer Bischoff.etc) Oh, and I love Marsden Hartley  and  also the landscapes of Wolf Kahn.

 

Can you tell us about your work?

 

My paintings are thick and lush with layers of paint applied one over

another. The technique resembles woodcut reduction printmaking as much as traditional oil painting. The images are built up using shapes of color to define the motif through the negative space.

 

 

Do you usually work in series?

 

I work in series because I find it impossible to say all that needs to be said in one image. Each painting reveals more about the subject I am working with and I discover more each time I start looking at a different aspect. It is like a friendship developing over time rather than trying to tell a life story on a first date.

 

As you look ahead, can you see what direction your work is going?

 

I'll go whereever it takes me. It always changes and evolves and the worst thing I can do is try to direct its path.

 

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?

 

I was trained with an abstract expressionist sensibility and consider my paintings to be abstracts because they are more about paint, color, shape, and application than about subject or motif. However, I do work from life. I feel working from a still life and responding to the information provided therein is more honest, uncontrived, and ultimately more exciting than battling the canvas one on one.

I am fortunate that I am not a procrastinator, and that I work fast. The more I work, the more I am inspired to work. Sometimes the only thing stopping me is running out of paint!

 

 

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?

 

For my day job I've worked in sales for most of my life, so translating those skills to shameless self-promotion is an easy jump. I figure how will one see my work unless I show it to them? Oh, and the website helps tremendously. I've had many people look at my work online and have enough of an idea of what I do to commission a painting or arrange a studio visit to purchase work. I can put in a plug for a great web designer here in the Mission, Arena Reed at www.visualarena.com

 

What do you do for fun besides painting?

 

I ride a bike