Figurative clay sculpture created in 2002
Title - Love Me Long Time
Mel Rea earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Kent State University, where she spent nearly seventeen years working with clay. Her early practice focused on large-scale figurative sculpture, distinguished by intricate surface detail and sculptural precision. These works often featured imagined characters alongside subtle references to historical figures, informed by her enduring fascination with Egyptian and Japanese cultural dress traditions.
Over time, Mel felt drawn to step away from clay and explore painting. This shift began serendipitously with the discovery of a small batch of beeswax tucked away in her grandmother’s basement. The wax had belonged to her grandfather Sam, who built and tended beehives after emigrating from Russia to the United States. As a child, Mel found deep calm walking among his hives, an experience that nurtured her lifelong reverence for nature. Fittingly, her full name, Melissa, means honeybee in Greek.
Mel’s grandfather, Sam, working with his beehives
That rediscovered beeswax became the catalyst for Mel’s transition into encaustic painting. The ancient roots of encaustics, practiced by Greek artists as early as the fifth century B.C., resonated with her love of craftsmanship and material history. Working with molten wax allowed her to carve, incise, and build surfaces much as she had in clay. The soft satin finish of encaustic replaced the lush glazes she once favored, while preserving the depth and tactility she sought.
After several years devoted to encaustic painting, Mel expanded her practice to include acrylics, pastels, gouache, and oil sticks. She works in layered applications—brushing, splashing, dripping, spraying, and scraping—creating a lively energy across the surface. Her paintings now consist of abstract assemblies of colorful lines and shapes that intersect in translucent layers. While suggestive, these forms no longer rely on literal representation, instead evoking romance, botanicals, humor, and sensuality.
Drawing inspiration from Japanese aesthetics, her love of animals, and the vastness of the natural world, Mel uses color and composition to explore an abstracted anatomy that communicates without a fixed narrative. Believing that thought shapes reality, she approaches her work with intention, creating paintings that invite warmth, connection, and quiet reflection.
Encaustic paintings
"I paint to create a momentary window of stillness, evoking calm, humor, and beauty. Through color and shape, I aspire to inspire conversations about dreamlike landscapes. My goal is to engage your imagination and create a connection between myself and the viewer." - Mel Rea
