Artwork reflects colorful life view
The colors blend and flow, hinting of a three-dimensional world.
When looking at Melissa Cole’s work, one cannot help but long to step into the painted world and swap stories with her vibrant subjects.
The pieces are done on board or canvas and represent the mixture of cultures and wildlife found in oceans, jungles or prairies. Beginning with large blocks and washes of color, she completes the pieces with a fine brush to create detailed designs.
Cole, 39, paints passion. She is an artist, writer, and wildlife photographer who took her experiences and began capturing them in acrylic paint in 1999. Before that, with a Bachelor of Science in zoology from Oregon State University, she traveled to far-flung locations.
In the Peace Corps, it was the Dominican Republic, and as a whale guide, it was Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas, and St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. She also has traveled to Africa, the Seychelles islands and Indonesia.
Cole grew up in India, Hong Kong and London. When she was 14, her family settled in Oregon.
Her father was a pilot, and her mother was artistic, painting realistic watercolors.
While becoming an artist was not at the top of Cole’s list, capturing the beauty of the world was. Killer whales, dolphins, manatees, scales, wings, fur, saris and patterns from cultures around the world left imprints on Cole’s imagination.
“I think you find creativity by allowing yourself to be emotionally touched by your surroundings and then transferring this to your chosen form of art,” she said.
Cole has been married for 10 years to Brandon, an underwater photographer. They met in Cabo San Lucas when she was his guide.
Together, they record what they love. Brandon, also an avid traveler, grew up in Spokane. They settled here after they married and two years ago moved into their Valley home, where they both have studios.
In the late ‘90s, Cole began carrying art supplies to document her travels. Her first subjects were manatees.
“I took some cards that I made featuring the manatees to a shop in Key West,” she said, “and they bought them all.” She began to paint bigger and bigger, and her new career was born.
“I had no background in marketing whatsoever,” she said, “I just bought myself a few marketing books such as ‘Art Marketing 101’ and ‘Making a Living as an Artist’ and studied.”
She put together a portfolio and began to knock on doors. She was persistent, confident and businesslike, which gallery owners appreciated. She was rarely turned down.
She has exhibited her work at Colburn’s Gallery, Everett Gallery, the Kress Gallery and the Seattle Aquarium. She has been commissioned to paint murals in places ranging from the Dominican Republic to River Park Square.
She has lectured and donated works, and her business, Sirena Graphics, has a line of cards, journals and prints that can be found in 250 stores in the Pacific Northwest.
Her pieces are hard to look away from. Perhaps it is because her work captures the beauty in the world that is, at times, hard to find.
In her artist’s statement, her work is spoken of as an escape: “While rivers are dammed, oceans are often polluted, and plastic blows through deserts, in her paintings, fish glide through clear water and rabbits leap unspoiled territory.
“Her artwork is filled with dreams, a touch of hope for what she wishes upon the Earth.”