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Melanie Fain

 
 
Melanie Fain                        back to artists page

Melanie is an award winning artist living in the Hill Country of Texas on seven wooded acres where she is inspired to create images that she knows and observes every day.

She offers her patrons an intimate view of the natural world, with emphasis on birds, botanicals, and insects. She translates her sensitive perceptions into elegant, hand-colored etchings and watercolors, which find broad appeal among naturalists and sportsmen alike.

Melanie designs her compositions using the ‘less is more’ philosophy giving her work an Asian feel and inviting the description, ‘visual haiku’. Melanie’s work is shown at America’s most distinguished wildlife art shows including the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, Easton Waterfowl Festival, NatureWorks, and Plantation Wildlife Art Festival for whom she was Feature Artist in 2001. Judy Watt of the Post & Courier in Charleston, South Carolina writes of a Southeastern Wildlife Expo, “A personal favorite was Melanie Fain’s copper etchings. The sepia tones underlying muted, yet rich, colors were an interesting counterpoint to some of the larger-than-life pieces that characterize many wildlife artists’ work.” Accolades include the prestigious Birds in Art and Art of the Animal Kingdom exhibits.

Melanie uses solarplate to create her original fine art etchings. The process of solar etching uses a steel plate covered with a light sensitized polymer material. The plate is created by placing a transparency on the plate and exposing it to the sun. It is then developed in water. When the plate is finished it is hand inked and wiped, leaving ink in the areas etched by the sun. A high quality, acid-free paper is applied to the plate and they are run through a flatbed press where the pressure causes the ink to be transferred to the paper creating a mirror-image print of the worked plate. As the printing process is repeated, the prints are hand-colored with watercolor, signed and numbered with the impression number over the total number in the edition. Editions are limited because repeated printing wears down the plate surface. Generally, ten percent of the edition is designated to Artist Proofs. These impressions are used to ensure the quality of the numbered pieces.

Melanie’s work can be found in private collections worldwide including the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Medical School and the Thomasville Cultural Center. Corporate collectors include Southwestern Bell, King Ranch, and Wells Fargo Bank.

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Flame Skimmer
Etching & watercolor
10 1/4" x 4 1/2", $275


Shadows
3 plate etching & watercolor, 7 1/4" x 6"
$350


Best Friend
Etching, 6 1/2" x 6 1/2", $225


Chickadee
3 plate etching & watercolor, 5" x 3 1/2", $200


Scissortail
2 plate etching & pastel
7" x 12", $425
 

 
 
 

 

Hunt Gallery
4225 McCullough Ave
San Antonio, TX 78212
210-822-6527
Hours:  Mon-Sat 9-5
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