Melissa Sharplin Art

Born in 1980, Melissa discovered her natural skills and talent as a photorealistic artist at an early age during high school art class. At age 15 Melissa came first in New Zealand in her school submission.

After practising with her new style of dry brush technique, using acrylic paint, Melissa had sold all of her school work and was commissioned to paint her first nude. Knowing she had a talent in painting realism, Melissa decided to keep her style, setting challenges for herself using different images.

Variety is where Melissa’s Passion lies, constantly looking for another subject to work on, in landscapes, pop art, portraits, and her favourite the female nude. Melissa creates nudes using warmth through rich vibrant skin tones, and a subtle softness in her detail.

Her landscapes are layered heavily with a palette knife, showing ridges of texture allowing the view to sing out of the painting. Sharplin’s pop art paintings stem from bright ideas that can be fresh and eccentric, Melissa uses bold colours and hyper-accentuated blending, creating a glossy ‘plastic” effect.

Completing a diploma at fashion school, which created a hunger in her for beauty, glamour, fashion advertising, and the female form. Melissa moved to England for 5 years completing 2 exhibitions, winning ‘most popular painting award’ in 2002 and worked extensively on international commissions.

Melissa returned to New Zealand in 2007, and is residing in Christchurch. Since her return from overseas, Melissa’s reputation as one of New Zealand’s most talented female artists has flourished, featuring in several high profile publications including Her Magazine, Nightline, and the Sydney Herald.

In 2009 she had her sell out show, the iconic ‘Retro Nude’ collection, and has donated works to several charity events, including the Linwood Art Auction and the Samoan Tsunami Relief Fund. 2009 also spurred the need for an extensive Giclee print collection to keep up with the demand of her work. 2010 will see the launch of Melissa’s most compelling work yet, the beautiful collection of ‘Swit-Swurl’.

For further information, please see: http://www.melissasharplin.com