Artist Statement:

My art is an expression of my internal landscape, expressed through color, gesture and elements that reflect our natural world. I use nature as my theme of self-expression because it feels like my most fluent language. I explore the coexistence of softness, wildness, delight, edges, and ease in myself and around us. Oil paint and oil paint sticks are a staple in my practice, allowing for the textures and blending needed to convey these feelings. In mixed media work I use transparent layers of fluid acrylics on raw canvas to relinquish control.

Because my work centers around a theme of nature as self and self as nature, my subject matter varies in ways that reflect my own journey and position. In my landscapes, I find myself anchored by the calm consistency of a horizon line during times of uncertainty. In my trees, I find shelter and sanctuary. In my abstract botanical work, I am seeking mystery and grappling with ephemerality.

In a time that desperately calls for transformative action to deal with the climate crisis, art is one of the most powerful tools we have. I marvel at the resilience and tenacity of the living beings around me while recognizing that our planet needs nurturing. By connecting with nature regularly, I recognize that I am not separate from it, but within it. Our fates are entangled. I am compelled to care, and part of how I spread that care is through art, which has a unique ability to connect us, just as nature does.

Bio:

Melanie Fenton is a painter based in Kelowna, British Columbia. She creates expressionist oil and mixed media paintings inspired by the wild world within and around us. Melanie grew up in Michigan and has been creating art since she could hold a crayon and exploring the outdoors since before that. Later, she took formal lessons in oil and acrylic painting outside of school. Following her curiosities about our natural world, she gained her Bachelor of Science in Evolutionary Biology and her Masters in Anthropology. Through scholarly pursuits she had the opportunity to hone her observational skills by living and studying wild things all over the world. Choosing to leave academia in 2020, Melanie began a journey, at last, to combine her love of science and all things wild with her love of art. Led by devotion and connection to the natural world, Melanie’s work includes both landscapes and nature-inspired abstraction. Her original artwork can be found in private collections across Canada and the United States and she has licensed reproductions. When not painting or working her other job as a research support specialist at UBC, Melanie enjoys hiking with her family and running.

Find My Art:

Much of my art is available for purchase right here on my website with shipping to Canada and the USA.

Galleries and Exhibitions:

None currently. Sign up to my email newsletter below for regular updates.

Stockists and Licensing:

I have partnered with The Crafted Prints to offer selected prints on fine art paper through their website. Printing and distribution are all handled by this incredible family-owned business.

If you are interested in licensing or stocking my prints or notecards in your storefront, let’s chat!

This space will be updated seasonally with a schedule of upcoming exhibitions and events, but the best way to stay in the loop is always my email newsletter. Sign up using the form below!

Did you hear?

My 2022 exhibition with Aimee Baerg, North To South: A Journey Through the Okanagan was featured in the Kelowna Daily Courier!

My work was featured in Opus’s Beyond Boundaries Virtual Gallery in 2021! I am so honoured to have been chosen to be featured alongside other talented Canadian artists who are pushing themselves beyond their creative limits in some way.