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FEATURED
ARTIST - Melanie Stimmell  View
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The only woman to have won the title of 'Maestro'
and several Gold Medals in both Italy and Germany, Melanie
Stimmell is an internationally recognized street painter,
working with clients in Turkey, Holland, Canada and throughout
the U.S.
Commissioned
by corporations and ad agencies for special events, performance
art and interactive media which includes
tv, film and print, Melanie's street paintings convey the
spirit of creativity, art and culture.
Her street painting, 'Allegory of Art', which graces Mission
steps in 2006, will be the image for this year's I Madonnari
Street Painting Festival. Stimmell was chosen as last year's
featured artist for the festival's 20th Anniversary celebration
for her wonderful Renaissance style and captivating alabaster
figures. |
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"With
aspirations in children's book illustration, my fine
art has always portrayed a feelings
of the sweet and whimsical. Smaller works, mostly highly
rendered still lives of sentimental objects and family
heirlooms or relics, are close to my heart and extremely
personal.
They are intimate vignettes of past lives plucked from
my family tree.
In addition to the still lives, I began to paint slightly
erotic portrayals of women by evoking creativity from my
struggles in finding a balance between the moral standards
learned in twelve years of Catholic school, and in my fascination
with vintage erotica, bulesque and 'soiled
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doves'. Both influences rest uneasy beneath an umbrella of
my obsessive behaviors and the essential idealism I search
for as a woman and artist.
My paintings specifically flaunt a playful intepretation
of my own personal dance with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
Doing things with grwat precision and care became a religion
early on and reaching the saintly status of a perfect domestic
female was invigorating but transient. So, rather than interpreting
my OCD as a curse, I have chosen to explore the idea of cleaning
as a fetish. Painting figures that represent the 'Eternal
Woman' as a domestic goddess or the vintage
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This image won the highest honor in the Meisterklassen at
the International Street Painting Festival in Geldern, Germany.
It is based on Herbert Draper's Mountain Mists. |
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housewife has lead to an exploration of women's role in today's
society with an overt suggestion of sexual
desire." |
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Maestri Madonnara is a title
given to master street painters in Italy since the 16th century.
Street painters were termed Madonnari for their depiction
of the Madonna and child on the cobblestone streets outside
churches and Cathedrals. Once the artwork was complete, they
would gather their pastels and the coins donated by generous
onlookers and move on to the next city. This was their livlihood.
"There
is something amazing about creating a 12 x 12 foot artwork
that you know will be washed away in a
matter of days. Nothing but the swirls of soft pastel sitting
upon asphalt waiting for the rain or wind to carry them
away. With such an ephemeral art form, I am often asked
why I do it. Perhaps is is how childlike it feels to sit
on the ground with colored chalks spread about your feet
or the rush I feel when a crowd gathers around to see me
finish the last few strokes of a painting. The images I
have done live only in these photographs and the memories
of onlookers. It is an amazing experience."
-As
she started to outline her painting, I was impressed with
the size of it, almost 18 ft in length. But
the best was yet to come. She started painting the first angel's
face. It was magical to watch her as she brought it to live."
Jan Smelser
Chairman
Expression in Chalk
London, Canada
The Imadon Street Painting Group |
| -Melanie Stimmell is a very gifted artist and
Streetpainter extraordinaire. I had the pleasure of working
with Melanie on two occasions in my hometown Utrecht, Holland,
in 2003 and 2004. In my opinion, Melanie is not only an amazing
artist, but the unique combinations of her artistry and spirit
makes Melanie one of my favorite and most appreciated artists.
Peter Westerink
KAYOO/Streetpainting
The Netherlands
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