Melissa

Hill

I have been a resident of Apex, North Carolina for the last 20+years. I graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in Art Education. I taught Art in the Florida Public Schools for 13 years. Since moving to Apex, I have taken art classes in Cary and Raleigh and have just completed the certificate program in Botanical Art and Illustration offered by the North Carolina Botanical Garden at UNC Chapel Hill.

I enjoy working with different mediums and techniques exploring texture, light and color in my subject matter. I have always enjoyed painting with watercolors and they are perfect for botanical art. I love the transparency and the vibrancy of the medium. There is spontaneity in painting with watercolors along with an element of surprise--it isn’t until the paint dries that the final result is seen. I have also been creating limited edition prints of plants and animals using the following printmaking techniques of Waterless Lithography, Linocut, Dry-point Etching, Eco-printing and Mono-printing. Each print in an edition is printed from a block or plate that has been drawn, painted or carved on a printing plate, inked and then hand-pulled on a printing press in her studio. As a hand-pulled print, there are slight variations, which adds freshness and spontaneity to the medium. I have just completed the certificate program in Botanical Art and Illustration offered by the North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill. The program has offered instruction in composition, drawing, color theory, various techniques in different mediums and in botany.

Colored Pencil, Mixed Media, Pen/Ink, Printmaking, Watercolor/Gouache

www.melissaphill.com