“Surfers, like artists, spend their time waiting and watching, connecting with nature, absorbing the atmosphere, anticipating the next thrill of the perfect wave – the perfect painting,” Melanie McDonald said. She should know. She spent so much of her time looking at surfers on Fistral Beach and photographing them that she eventually started painting them.
Melanie McDonald looks at surfers
Melanie’s surfers cast eye-catching shapes in her paintings but they cannot compete with the landscape – they are simply part of it. Without a doubt, nature itself is the subject and the surfers only feature insofar as they enhance the reality of what the natural world is doing. Sometimes the surf is big and hectic. Other times the reflections cast by surfers draw the viewer in.
Breakers and Surfers, Constantine Bay, Cornwall,
oil & acrylic on contemporary block canvas, 72 x 24 inches,
£ 2,300.00
To achieve the effects, she starts a painting with a thin layer in acrylic and then builds up the painting in many more layers of colours using a mixture of acrylic and oil, depending on which area of the painting she’s working on.
Melanie’s studio
We asked Melanie why she paints surfers. She said: “I love the contrast of the sharp, uniform surfboards against the natural, ever-changing sea and sky.
“I think possibly my work captures the vibe of ‘surfers alone with the elements’ – big horizons, big seas and skies.”
Melanie has been the resident artist for the Saltwater Bistro Café, Polzeath, Cornwall (owned by Chef Steve Pitt who oversees all the Tate gallery restaurants) for four years now. She studied fine art at Falmouth College of Art and has been painting professionally for about 15 years.
Polzeath Beach, Winter Reflections
oil & acrylic on contemporary block canvas
24 x 24 inches (610 x 610mm)
£ 750.00
What got her started? “I moved to Cornwall when I was 8 years old and remember telling my Mum that I wanted to be an artist then. I think it was the influence of the light and the sea, even at that young age. My family collects paintings by Cornish artists, and we used to spend weekends visiting St. Ives, wandering around art galleries and artists studios. It had a strong influence on me – I always thought it would be a fantastic way to live your life…and it is!”
Surfers and Sea Spray, North Cornwall
oil & acrylic on contemporary block canvas
60 x 24 inches (1575 x 610mm)
£ 1,995.00
Melanie no longer lives in Cornwall. She has relocated to Finistere in Brittany, France partly so she could travel Europe more easily. She compares Brittany to Cornwall as “a wild Celtic outpost, with a similar feeling to Cornwall – granite stone, fishing history, old language.”
Cornwall, Brittany and Scotland (her husband is Scottish) provide the Celtic influences for her work. But which is the most inspiring? “It has to be Cornwall. My heart is in Cornwall, even though I live in France. I love north Cornwall, the light and wilder beaches, such as Fistral, Constantine and Polzeath.” She proves it by returning every two months.
In fact, she’s going over to Cornwall next week for her spring/summer exhibition at the Saltwater Bistro Café. And you can even meet her there between 3 and 5pm on Easter Saturday, April 3. The exhibition starts on April 2 and carries on until September.
Her paintings can also be found in Innocent Fine Art (Bristol), Trelissick Gallery (Truro) and the Barker Gallery (Eton).
Adele Jarrett-Kerr
Our magpies found you…
Cornwall (Best of Britain): Accessible, Contemporary Guides by Local Experts
And because we do things fair and square…
Brittany and Normandy (Lonely Planet Country & Regional Guides)
Comments
Thank you Adele, love the feature about my paintings and forthcoming exhibition in Cornwall. Wishing you every success with ‘Dressed in the Dark’, your new online magazine for creative people. Excellent start! Melanie McDonald (MelMcDonaldArt)
Glad you like it, Melanie. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Thank you Adele, love the feature about my paintings and forthcoming exhibition in Cornwall. Wishing you every success with 'Dressed in the Dark', your new online magazine for creative people. Excellent start! Melanie McDonald (MelMcDonaldArt)
Glad you like it, Melanie. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Sitting at my seashore house reading this post. Love Melanie McDonald’s art! Another ocean lover and these paintings say it.
Sitting at my seashore house reading this post. Love Melanie McDonald's art! Another ocean lover and these paintings say it.
Wish I was on the sea shore not in this 26 degree office
Wish I was on the sea shore not in this 26 degree office