Artwork by Melissa Mahoney

I'm an abstract painter. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother, seated at our kitchen table, sketching or drawing pen-and-ink still lifes. My grandparents too were artists, who favored watercolors, oil paint and woodblock printing. Influenced by these surroundings, I turned naturally to drawing and painting as familiar outlets to express feelings and to document my life experiences. I continued to draw and paint through school, and went on to earn a BFA at the University of Georgia. I also completed graduate work in Cortona, Italy, where I studied calligraphy and art history. While I have worked in oil pastels, watercolor pencils, encaustic, oil and acrylic paints, my current work is in mixed media, applying paint and modeling paste with brushes, trowels - even my hands. My studio is based in California, where I live and work.