About the Artist

    
      Melinda Picatti  is a watercolor artist from Soquel, California, near the coastal town of Santa Cruz, and has now moved to the Sierra foothils near Oakhurst.  She has been painting since attending college in 1965/66, and she has, by fits and starts, (and many failures), honed her painting skills to a fine edge.  Her purely realistic paintings have evolved, to now include some impressionistic and abstract tendencies, depending on her subject and her mood.
    Melinda credits hard work and the varied scenery and subject matter available near her home for sparking her inspiration. From mountain redwoods to farms and seashore, she has almost unlimited choices to fuel her enthusiasm, be it for landscapes, rusty farm equipment, people, animals, or rocks and ocean waves. Now that she has moved to the Oakhurst area, there will be many new landscapes forthcoming as the area is ripe with large granite boulders and outcroppings.
     Melinda has participated in the juried Santa Cruz County Open Studio Tour for the last six ( except 2016) years.  Much of her work resides in private collections. In her new location--once her studio is asssembled-- there is a similar art studio tour called Sierra Art Trails that she may apply for.