Melissa Orme

A Michigan native, Melissa Bisbee Orme graduated from the School of Architecture and Design at The University of Michigan where she majored in painting and earned a BS in Design. She has worked as an art teacher, a printmaker, and a painter in oil and watercolor. Presently she is painting with acrylic on paper and stretched canvas.

In the last five years, she has participated in 30 group and 3 solo shows in the Northeast. Her work can be found in private collections throughout the United States and England.

Melissa studied at the New York Botanical Garden in the 1990’s where she earned a certificate in Landscape Design and started her own design firm. She has designed numerous gardens for private residences in the Northeast and her garden illustrations have appeared in House Beautiful and Better Homes & Gardens. Her own garden was featured in Connecticut Cottages & Gardens and Private Gardens of Connecticut by Jane Garmey. She refers to garden design as “designing and painting with plants – another medium for the painter.”

STATEMENT
My approach to painting centers around process. I see it as a projection of my spirit and my inner visual language. My compositions express the outcome of this process, evolutions of abstract form and color – the subject matter a reflection of my subconscious.

Although my work involves a spontaneous process, it is never free from the underlying elements of design. These elements are the essential tools which guide me in the creation and manipulation of a successful image.

I use acrylic paint because of its infinite range of possibilities: it is quick-drying, it provides the immediacy I desire, as well as fluidity, opacity, and transparency.
The process of painting is ever-changing and a constant challenge to me. It pushes me toward unknown and exciting territory. It is here that I discover new concepts, techniques, and added depth and meaning. This is the essence of my journey and my passion.