The Paint Spatter That Inspired “Wild Horses”

A detail from A spatter of paint in violets and yellows from which the images for the "Wild Horses" painting emerged.

  Each one of my paintings starts with a spatter of paint. Pictured above is the spatter that inspired the painting, “Wild Horses”. I can always feel an excitement when I have a paint spatter that holds an image that I have yet to uncover. What can you see in this spatter? See the evolution…

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A Sneak Peek of New Horse Painting

A detail from the sneak peek of the new horse painting, featuring a bucking horse. Violets and yellow featured.

  It’s time for a sneak peek just for you of my newest painting. You can watch the progress of this piece from random paint spatter through the appearance of the images and on through to the finished painting, in the coming posts on this blog. This subject matter, a herd of wild horses running, has…

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Art vs. Artist

Melani Grube, filtered selfie, surrounded by details from her paintings featuring the characters that inhabit them. The paintings include (starting top left and moving clockwise): A Portrait in Song, Gaia Upon Finding the Light, The Nutcracker in Battle with the Mouse King, Afternoon Revisited, Tea Time Moment, Winter's Icy Breath, Spring Amongst the Poppies, Skelly Wedding Party.

  Have you seen the “Art vs. Artist” posts on Instagram? The post is a grid of 9 images, with a picture of the artist in the center surrounded by images of her artwork. I thought they look so great and give such a nice snapshot of the artist’s style and direction. So, here’s mine.…

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Reveal of the Finished Painting: Woman in a Red Raspberry Beret

Detail from the painting, The Woman in a Red Raspberry Beret, inspired by Pablo Picasso's The Woman in a Red Beret. Features violets, blues and lime greens. A blonde woman in a raspberry red beret and checked blouse gazes into the distance.

  Have you been wondering how it would turn out? Now you can see the finished painting, my version of Picasso’s “Woman in a Red Beret “. Sotheby’s Auction House has a great blog post on Picasso’s painting that they recently auctioned off. You can see the Picasso piece below.     The portrait I…

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Red Beret Work in Progress Video

  Would you be inspired by a $70 million painting? I was. But it wasn’t about the money (though the auction sale total did amaze me). Really when I saw Picasso’s “Woman in a Red Beret”, the piece recently auctioned off at Sotheby’s, it was the undiluted, unapologetic emotion of the image that got me.…

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The Girl Who Left Home to Learn David Hockney

A detail from Melan Grube's sketch of David Hockney's etching of Rapunzel, the Older, for his book, "Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm". A woman with incredibly long hair, flowing down her back and piled on the floor behind her. She wears a long gown and carries two white, long-stemmed lily flowers.

  Oh, I had such a fantastical afternoon, once upon a too bright Saturday. I found my way into the strangely dim, yet clear light of a brand new art center and its surprising gem of a show: David Hockney‘s Etchings from his book, “Six Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm“. These fairy tales are…

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Newest Skelly Painting Preview

Detail from Skelly Wedding Party painting, skeleton girl tasting the wedding cake.

  Here’s a preview just for you: a new piece in the Skelly series. This series is inspired by the Day of the Dead and Halloween. No matter what’s happening in these paintings, you know there are going to be skeletons and there’s going to be fun. Care to join the little Skelly girl on…

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Journey of Hope 2017 Exhibit: Unveiling the Completed Painting

A surreal woman stands and floats in a sea of waves and flowers. A rose-colored cloud escapes her lips. The flowers embrace and surround her. Mystical faces watch and accompany her. Violets and blues featured.

Official title: A Portrait in Song   Do you ever experience anxiety as you work on an important project? When I started this piece, I had anxiety about finding the image. I didn’t have an image in mind after reading the mental health journey story I was given by the exhibit coordinators. But that’s normal…

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Journey of Hope 2017 Exhibit: Work in Progress, Pencil Sketch

  A peek behind the scenes for you, a Work-In-Progress sketch for the painting for the Journey of Hope Exhibit. I work out some of the concept for the piece on a separate piece of paper. I spatter paint on paper for the actual painting, then look for the image that expresses the theme I…

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Journey of Hope 2017 Exhibit: Last Year’s Painting

A woman with radiating hair, sings among luminous faces in the air, all in lavenders and blues.

  If you’ve been following along, you’ve seen that I am creating a painting for the Journey of Hope Exhibit 2017 that is happening in October. I thought you might like to see the painting I created for last year’s exhibit. This painting is called, “Finding Her Voice”. The exhibit promotes mental health awareness and…

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