Melanie Douthit, January 2012 featured Artist of the Month

Melanie Fitzgerald Douthit from West Monroe, Louisiana is the featured artist for the month of January 2012 at Ouachita River Art Gallery. Her show, "Secret Garden" showcases vibrant acrylic floral paintings with a bit of whimsy. You can meet the artist and discuss her works at a reception for the artist Saturday, January 7 from 2 to 4 PM.

 

Melanie completed her first oil painting in her late teens and since then she has ventured into watercolor, pen and ink, conte crayon, colored pencil, acrylic and paper collage creations. She’s studied under Claudia Nice, Marlene Gremillion, Ronnie Barnes, M. Douglas Walton,  Sharon Teel Bennett, and Margaret Ellerman. She started selling her original art online in 2000 and has sold paintings to collectors in all fifty states, France, Greece, England and other various countries across the globe. Her “Mardi Gras Dachshund” paintings hang nationwide in over 30 Mimi’s Café Restaurants, and remains one of her most collected scenes.  Her current creations depict French Quarter architectural art, colorful florals and whimsical collage pieces.

 

From 2006-2010, Melanie expanded her creativity by working within the paper craft industry. She worked on the design teams for scrapbook manufacturing companies (Flair Designs, Dream Street Papers, Paper Salon, and Piggy Tales) creating scrapbook pages, cards and altered items for promotional use. She has sold her designs and articles to various leading craft publications including Crafts n Things, Paper Crafts Magazine, Cards, and Just Cards. Since becoming involved in the paper craft industry, she started merging both of her loves - paper and paint, and many of her paintings combine both of those loves.

 

Melanie has exhibited her art work in various Northeast Louisiana exhibits including the 102A Bistro in Ruston, and most recently, Art With A View. Her work as been in galleries in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Arkansas.. She currently has art at the Great Artists Collective Gallery on Royal Street in New Orleans, LA, as well as locally at Brazzell and Co.Home, and The Ouachita River Art Gallery where she is a juried member. You can see more of her work at www.melaniedouthit.com

 

The Ouachita River Art Gallery, 308 Trenton Street, West Monroe, invites you to come see this special show during the entire month of January. When you shop at your local gallery, you not only help our economy by keeping your money in the area, you also save on taxes and shipping. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Paintings and photographs by gallery members can also be seen at ORAG’s extension gallery located in the lobby of Ouachita Independent Bank/Bankers Mortgage Plaza at 18th and Louisville in Monroe. Call 322-2380 f