Welcome | The Art of Melissa Grace

theartofmelissagrace.com

Melissa Grace Young

Born a maker, artistic expression began for me with scissors and crayons and paste and paints. Now I create because I must, for peace of mind, for my sanity really. And as I must, I’ve found ways to make art a big part of my life.

For the last twenty years, I’m drawn to figure and portrait sketching and painting, particularly the female form. And especially the divine female form: the madonna, with halos and hands and flaming hearts and crowns. I find myself creating madonnas of vivid colors and unbalanced facial features and body parts; so few things in life are perfect, and yet they can be perfectly beautiful.

These days I fill journals with images of everyday wonders, and transcendent figures with extraordinary vision and strength. I paint large madonnas on canvas and create mixed media portraits of uncanny funkiness.

Workshops

I’m teaching art journaling with the same passion that I approach my art-with wild abandon and sacred reverence for all thing creative. I believe we are all born to create, we are all part of this ongoing creation story. I embrace teaching techniques that explore spontaneous approaches to the page. The joy in creative expression happens when we leave behind preconceived notions of what our art should be like, and let the elements of surprise and magic guide us.

January 20, 2024 | VIEW THE SLIDESHOW
10 am – 4 pm
Creative Expression through Mixed Media Art Journaling
San Antonio Art League & Museum
130 King William Street, San Antonio, TX
https://www.saalm.org/journal.html

March 9, 2024
Mixed Media Stylized Portrait Online Workshop: A Study in Flow
Hoffman Center for the Arts, 10 am – 2 pm
594 Laneda Avenue, Manzaita
https://hoffmanarts.org/events/mixed-media-stylized-portrait-online-workshop-a-study-in-flow/

May 3-4, 2024
Creative Expression through Mixed Media Art Journaling
San Antonio Art League and Museum
130 King William Street, San Antonio, TX
https://www.saalm.org/journal2.html

August 16-26, 2024
La Romita School of Art in Terni, Italy
The Art of Discovery – Self-Expression at the Crossroads of Poetry and Art
Co-teaching with Emily Ransdell
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND REGISTER ONLINE
Intro to mixed media art journaling demo and La romita experience
Watch the Demo Video on YouTube

September 21-October 5, 2024
Essere Writer & Artist Residency
Tuscany, Italy

May 2023
La Romita School of Art in Terni, Italy
Free Your Creative Spirit in mixed Media Art Journaling
FREE YOUR CREATIVE SPIRIT IN MIXED MEDIA ART JOURNALING

Through close collaboration with the Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita, OR, I have taught in-person workshops and then online throughout the pandemic, with a focus on art journaling through mixed media techniques.

Exhibits

Currently Exhibiting
‘Sisters on a Mission’
Mockingbird Handprints
Blue Star Arts Complex
1420 S. Alamo, 112A

January 18 – April 2024
‘Compassion’ Exhibition
Including ‘Connected to the Stars’, my 30″ x 40″ acrylgouache on canvas
Kinected Coworking & Gallery
10401 I-10, San Antonio, TX 78230

November 25 – December 3, 2023
Group Exhibit
Deck the Walls
Christensen Gallery Blanco

October 21 – November 25, 2023
‘Soulful Sisters’
Including ‘Sisters on a Mission’ series
Olmos Mockingbird Handprint Gallery
4303 McCullough Ave, Olmos Park, TX 78212
Artist reception Saturday, October 21, 4 – 6 pm
https://mockingbirdhandprints.com/

September 1 – 15, 2023
‘Sacred Art of Altars, One People, Many Paths’
San Antonio Art League & Museum
130 King William Street, San Antonio, TX
Artist Participant
https://www.celebrationcircle.org/altarshow

July to September 2023
San Antonio Art League & Museum, Members Gallery
130 King William Street, San Antonio, TX
https://www.saalm.org

June 10 – July 15, 2023
‘Out of La Romita’
Flatbed Center For Contemporary Printmaking
3701 Drossett Drive, Suite 190 Austin, TX
Group Exhibit
https://www.flatbedpress.com/gallery

December 2022
‘Time Will Tell’ in Mixed Media
Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita, OR

February 2020
‘Feet, What do I Need You for when I have Wings to Fly’, Frida Kahlo inspired collage
Hoffman Center for the Arts in Manzanita, OR

October 2019
‘Feet, What do I Need You for when I have Wings to Fly’, Frida Kahlo inspired collage
Kingwood TX – Benefitting FamilyTime Crisis and Counseling Center

Gallery