Melinda has been painting with watercolor since 1965, after taking a college watercolor course from the late Eric Oback. Though not completing college, she opted to take workshops from several well known instructors to continue learning.   Her progress was sporadic due to divorce, financial concerns, and at times, lack of faith in her own abilities.
       In the early nineties,  she began selling her paintings at Art and Wine festivals and a few local exhibits, gaining some sales and exposure. However, it was several years before she made a commitment to continue taking workshops and most importantly, paint as often as possible.
     Melinda applied and was juried into the Santa Cruz County Open Studios Tour in 2010,and has participated yearly through 2017 greatly increasing her client base and exposure and gaining several faithful collectors of her work. She was a member of the Santa Cruz Art League and had been a  Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society member for over 32 years.
      Recently moving to Oakhurst she has joined the Yosemite Western Artists, and California Watercolor Association. She will be one of the artists in the Sierra Art Trails studio tour in 2021--the first two weekends in October.

Classes and Workshops:
 Eric Oback   college course-             watercolor
 Tom Hill          weekend workshop
 Zoltan Szabo     weekend workshop (2)
 Betty Lynch        weekend workshop
 Al Cunningham     one week workshop
 Dennis Collins           6 week  class
  UCSC 
  course for re-entry to art career
 Mike Bailey      3 day workshop
                      10 week workshop
 Howard Ikemoto   Cabrillo college -                                  abstract painting 

Memberhips/Listings:
 Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society-lapsed member
 Santa Cruz Art League-lapsed member
     New memberships:
Yosemite Western Artists
California Watercolor Association

Exhibits
    Boulder Creek Country Club
    Elegant Earth Gallery
    The Buttery
    The Bagelry
​
Santa Cruz County Gov't. Center 2011 & 2013
                                                
 Santa Cruz County Bank Arts                                        Collaborative exhibit
 Santa Cruz County Bank:
            group show   Sept  2013- Jan 2014


 Boulder Creek Art and Wine Festival
 Capitola Art and Wine Festival
Carmel Valley Art and Wine Festival
 Santa Cruz County Open Studio Tour 2010  
       through 2017                                        
                                                            
      ** Coming soon, Sierra Art Trails--Oakurst/Mariposa/Coarsgold/North Fork......          2021