Melissa Scott-Miller NEAC RBA RP paints mainly urban landscapes, specialising in London where she was born and still lives, as well as interiors and portraits of people in their surroundings.
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Artist statement
Melissa paints mainly urban landscapes, specialising in London where she was born and still lives, as well as interiors and portraits of people in their surroundings. She is fascinated by light and pattern and texture, particularly on bricks and slates of London buildings and the flora and fauna found in city gardens and parks. She is fascinated in detail and the effects of nature on man-made structures, but also wishes to portray an emotional relationship she has with London streets, where she has lived as a child, an artist and a mother and a dog owner! She likes to concentrate very deeply and feels that she is walking on a tightrope when she works.
Method of working
Melissa likes to work outside, whatever the time of year, and sometimes from windows, where she can paint larger views. Often favouring unusual viewpoints and with close ups of bricks and leaves in the foreground. She paints with very small brushes, five '0's so that she can draw with the paint and fills in areas as if embroidering, putting great care and attention into each section and generally not going back to it. She favours old Holland oil paint and ready prepared linen canvasses which are light and easy to carry. She draws for several hours in charcoal first, fixing it before painting.She uses a Mabef field easel and puts it in a shopping trolley, carrying the wet painting through crowds of commuters on the tube, being careful not to get any paint on anyone!