'Winter Graces'

Marisa S White is best known for seamlessly stitching multiple photographs together, weaving her own personal narrative through surrealistic and fantastical imagery. Having grown up in Houston, Texas with The Menil Collection and the MFAH in her backyard, Marisa was heavily influenced by the Surrealists. She incorporates these dream-like scenes to express an idea or an emotion perhaps not so easily conveyed through traditional landscapes and realistic settings. However, her images speak to concepts not so foreign or mysterious, but to touch upon our own questions of life, love, fear, and the unknown.

Initially a mixed media collage artist, she received her BFA at the University of North Texas. Through her studies, she fell in love with the camera and further developed the use of photography in her work after a summer in Missoula, Montana at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography.
Marisa’s work has received numerous accolades for her art, has exhibited across the US and in Europe and is collected internationally. Her work was recently featured at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California.

She currently resides in Colorado with her husband of 10+ years, whom she fondly refers to as Captain Awesome, and their two fur babies.

Shannon Mello:

“I’ve been creating art my whole life.  I’ve also always been a lover of nature and the great outdoors since I can remember.  The artwork I create, whether it is the materials or the subject matter itself, will almost always have a connection to nature.  Encaustic is made from beeswax and tree resin, which somehow naturally seems to have the most incredible soothing effect.  Watercolors create ethereal lands, usually complemented by the use of gold or copper leafing.  My cold wax & oil paintings usually depict an abstracted landscape with subtle earth tones, contrasted by small bits of breaking light.  I have taken many different paths with artwork but the sure constant is that inspiration is always available if you step outside.

I have two amazing children and a husband who also share my love of the outdoors.  We emphasize the arts in our family and inspire our children to take risks and create with whatever is available, from pine cones to canvas.  During the day I am a homeschooling teacher.  By night, after the kids are sleeping, I hop myself up on coffee and create.

I hope this artwork inspires you to take risks and find your own means of creation.  Maybe it’s visually, mentally, spiritually, or physically.  Maybe it’s with pine cones.  Whatever you do, do it with love.”

The Opening Reception will feature music by Dubficious.