Welcome! I am so excited to share my passion with you.
I am an artist living in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, creating expressive paintings inspired by the beauty and light of prairie skies.
About the Art
My interest in skies began with colour-drenched winter sunrises. The coldest, longest nights end with transcendent and exhilarating colour. I paint sky after sky, finding they are never exhausted. There is always another wisp of violet-blue illuminating a cloud, another band of faintest green at the horizon to explore. Each day varies with the weather and the season.
Not always saturated with hue, skies darken at times with heavy storm clouds. On Alberta prairies, we watch the storms lurking on the horizon, creeping closer with every breath. The most violent storms are crushing: the wind bows us over, the howl deafens us, and the darkness blinds us. The sheer power of a storm exhausts our patience and resolve and brings us face to face with our frailty and terror.
And while things may never be the same – trees broken that will not regrow, a crop that is lost, flattened by the rain – something happens when we learn what fear really means. It can break us, but sometimes it can also create us. A storm can teach us not to fear a shadow because we have sat in the infinite dark. It also teaches us that when the sun does rise, its beauty is potent.
Most storms do pass, and our small world is transformed – whether the storm wracks the trees outdoors or the timbers of our hearts. As Robert Genn wrote, “It’s good to trust the skies. There’s a lifetime in them.”
Skies Near and Far, 2019.
About the Artist
I can recall watercolour painting next to my mom at the kitchen table from a young age, curious and fascinated by how the colour moved. As an adult, I studied art first at the University of Alberta, then at Julian Ashton Art School in Australia. I combine my love of art with my other passion, teaching art at every opportunity. My work has been featured at Gallery @501 and the Edmonton International Airport, and is part of the permanent collection of Strathcona County.
My artistic process is a combination of disciplined study and intuitive investigation. I paint cloud studies as a way to develop fluency in colour, form, and paint handling. The sky is never the same twice, and while I have painted almost 300 studies, I haven’t yet run out of inspiration! These inform my expressive work: large paintings built by layering scenes and views from ordinary life, imbued with metaphor.
Read more about Melissa here:
Melissa is represented by Bay 1 Gallery. Her work has been collected in Canada, the USA, and Europe.
Inspired by the beauty and light of prairie skies.
Learn more about Melissa.
Where do you find inspiration? How do you challenge yourself as an artist? Melissa shares her art and her advice in this art talk from the gallery at The Paint Spot.
Thinking Big: From Idea to Action.
Hear Melissa describe her next big idea on the popular podcast, The Savvy Painter.
Artsy Mondays: Interview with Fine Art Painter Melissa Baron.
A conversation with curator Alexis Marie Chute about Melissa’s creative journey.
Melissa Processes Her Diagnosis Through Art.
Creating art can help us through the tough times in life: a reflection on how art helped Melissa in her recovery from cancer.
Photos by Dr. James Glasier at Collins Gallery, Tessa Nunn at Red Deer College, Tricia Richenbach at Bay 1 Gallery, Frank de Groot at Dinosaur Provincial Park, and Carl Conradi at Spray Lakes.