by carol elliot carol6@comcast.net
When portrait artist Melanie Rogers talks about her paintings you would think she is talking about old friends. They all have names, either of women, or nouns of a descriptive nature. “I name them to remember them,” she tells me. Proficient in the English language, Rogers personifies one particular work by calling it Creativity and quips, “Watch out for Creativity. She won’t leave you alone!”
Almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy, Rogers only turned professional with her art over the past four years, but in this short span of time she has made a name for herself. Collectors are recognizing her originals as the work of Melanie Rogers.
“As a child I knew I could draw,” says the 52 year-old woman who was putting houses and floor plans on paper in the second grade. In fact, she kept a journal of those sketches from her childhood but unfortunately they are no longer in her possession. She also did renderings of family members. All of these are etched in her memory.
Deeply spiritual, Rogers’ faces are anything but typical. She shares the mystique that women possess in her portraits of biblical figures. Using women in the Bible as her models, she asserts freedom to express genders. “The masculine and the feminine should be protected.” Her portraits show dignity and complexity. Mystery being an essential ingredient, the viewer can’t help but be drawn deeper than what they see on paper. The eyes are so alluring that they command attention.
“There is beauty and color for all of us. That’s why I wanted to paint beautiful women,” she remarks. “I want to look at other forms of beauty. They say the eyes are the windows of the soul,” she adds. “Mother Teresa is beautiful.” The word “beauty” leads to a philosophical discussion. “There are many kinds of beauty,” she feels. “Mother Teresa, a garden of flowers, the marsh, and sunsets – they remind us of the Eden we never experienced but were created for.”
Color is a big deal for this artist. Having gone through numerous challenges in her life, marriage and health issues especially, Rogers developed a strong belief in God. “When I had cancer, color became a very special communication between God and me,” she explains. “He tells me He is good and He does that through color. Color is God’s gift to me. He gave me this gift because so many other things in my life were lost.”
She tells me the following story. It seems that Rogers was taking a group watercolor (her preferred medium) class from Shirley DePasquale, a St. Augustine portrait and floral watercolorist. The focus was to paint a flower. Instead, after a demonstration in mixing yellow ochre and crimson, “I was flooded with delightful exhilaration as I watched a form of flesh appear on my paper,” she recalls. “I named that painting Survivor. It was an expression of my life.”
Using those same colors, Rogers painted Genre on location at Zhanra’s, 108 Anastasia Boulevard, just south of the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. She will return to this new “art and eats” restaurant April 7 and 8. You can call Zhanra’s at 823-3367.
“I do things by instinct. I do not know or understand what I am doing. It is actually a fearful thing. I have to overcome anxiety every time a piece of paper is in front of me. So much soul and emotion go into each painting. Frank Sinatra said that Judy Garland died a little bit every time she sang. That’s what happens to me!”
Rogers is working on a commissioned series based on hats worn by her grandmothers Melinda and Maomi, the names she has given to those paintings, and from antique magazine covers that featured women wearing hats. The woman who commissioned the work, Clare, will see her likeness next to Melinda and Maomi. Of course, Rogers will call this last part of the three-part series “Clare.”
The former owner of Timeless Treasures and Designs, Rogers has an eye for interior design. She often advises on color, size and even framing (she frames her own work) based on the accessories in the room. “Clare” is wearing purple because that particular color works for Clare’s space.
The year 2007 is an innovative year for Rogers. “In the past, I felt like I was sitting at an intersection with a red light but now that light has turned green. I have so much from my own life that I want to share.” She also does rare black and white watercolors with a translucence resulting from multiple layers. She is also moving into other mediums such as the very colorful – almost resembling stained glass - A Mother’s Heart! What’s next? There is a possibility Rogers will paint murals with acrylics.
From a coal mining town in western Kentucky, the family moved to St. Augustine in the late 1960s. After graduating from the University of Florida with an honors degree in sociology, “I was going to travel the world, but my love for St. Augustine drew me back here.” That was 1984. Keep your eye on this artist. She’s going places through her art. You can reach Melanie Rogers at 797-8889.
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