About the Artist
Melinda Lowry Anter (MELA) grew up in Utah and Colorado and currently lives in Rhode Island with her husband and three dogs. Her passion for art began when she was young as she discovered a love for animals and spent hours drawing them. She continued this obsession in college where she studied Illustration at Brigham Young University and Graphic Design at the Art Institute of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Her work follows a path of self-discovery, from realism to abstract, pencils to painting, photography to graphic design. Honing skills acquired over the years, she continues to follow her inspiration and creates paintings that take the viewer along with her on a journey of art to see things in a way they haven’t been seen before.
"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see” - Edgar Degas
Although her passion has always been art, she pursued a career in sales and marketing and enjoyed working for various companies ranging from an advertising agency in Chicago to a locum tenens facility in Salt Lake City placing doctors in long and short term assignments in New Zealand. After 15 years in the corporate world, she could no longer hold back her desire to be creative and jumped at the chance to go back to college and learn graphic design.
Assimilating the skills she had always wanted to learn, she created and launched an online business with her sisters Moxibod.com, a work-out-fit apparel company. She enjoyed dialing in her graphic design, photography and web skills, but when she picked up the paint brush and started painting again, she couldn’t stop the ideas from bursting out... and she hasn’t stopped painting since.
Artist Statement:
My earlier artwork was created with prisma color pencils and I found myself stuck in a very tight style, restricted to realism. I have discovered that with acrylic paints and their quick drying characteristics, I am able to explore new ways of shading using multiple layers of colors and thick contrasting textures. It has opened a door that allows me to experiment with a looser style and create more depth and dimension in my pieces.
My goal is to capture the personality of my subject, whether human or animal, through intense focus on the eyes. Being able to connect with the viewer through a memory or emotion or simply through beauty is the spark from the art that inspires me and keeps me going.
I’ve found myself getting stuck on the details of a painting and missing the point of the whole view, and I realized this also happens in life. We can’t see the forest for the trees, because we are in the middle with the trees all around us, everything is up close. If we can take a step back and get a different perspective, perhaps we can take in the beauty of what is around, allowing us to see the forest for what it truly is.
Art is a journey. Follow along @girl.painted on instagram to see the latest WIP (work in progress) and where MELA's artwork is currently being displayed.
A portion of every sale is donated to ASPCA - the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®. Thank you for your help to support!
Watercolor art of best buddies.
Pencil sketch of a beloved bulldog with his loving fur mom.
Watercolor and pen artwork layered in Photoshop.
Collage in Photoshop and a favorite quote.
Prisma color custom portrait on suede board.
Airbrush mural of a swat team at a tactical training center.
Chappie - the Italian Greyhound who helps with drawings.