Melissa Weinman Biography scroll down to view works

Melissa Weinman grew up in her mother’s painting and ceramic studio on the prairies of southwest Minnesota, where bison still roam on virgin prairie grasses and prickly pear cactus are native. A few miles from her birthplace stands an ancient Lakota rock wall, which marks an east-west line atop a Sioux Quartzite buffalo jump. As a teen, she rode these prairies on horseback, an avid horsewoman spending all her summer hours breaking, training, and showing horses. The West is in her blood. 

Melissa Weinman’s solo museum exhibitions include the Frye Art Museum in Seattle and the Arnot Art Museum in Elmira, NY. In addition, her work resides in the permanent collections of the Tacoma Art Museum and Belo Corporation’s KING 5 Broadcasting in Seattle. Her work is published in Women and Art: Contested Territory by Judy Chicago and Edward Lucie-Smith. Her solo show at Tatistcheff Gallery in New York City was reviewed by Eleanor Heartney in Art in America magazine. She was awarded the NPAF Artist in Residency at Fort Union National Monument in New Mexico. In addition, Weinman painted at the American Academy in Rome as a Visiting Artist. Her work was accepted into the California Art Club Spring 2021 Excellence in Traditional Fine Art Competition, the Oil Painters of America 2020 Virtual Salon Exhibition, and their 2019 Western Regional Juried Exhibition of Traditional Oils. She is also a member of the Portrait Society of America.  

When not painting en Plein air in the Northwest, the Southwest, or Europe, Melissa paints in a 700 sq. ft. studio in Washington State. Her style is painterly realism. She says of her work, “I’m attracted to all subjects that are translucent and changing; therefore, I’m drawn to paint fruit and flowers, water and clouds, fur and feathers, and the figure. I aim to capture my subjects through a palpable sense of atmosphere, masterful drawing, and luscious paint handling.”