Artist Visit - Laura Melnich
I went to the Be Dazzled event at the WMA to go see some visiting artistes and I came across crop art or seed art. There were several pictures made entirely out of different types of seeds. I really liked it so I went to talk to the artist, Laura Melnich. I asked her how long it took to do each of the pictures and she pointed to one of them that was about 12 by 14 inches and told me it took her over a hundred hours to finish. She has a station set up with different types of seeds so you could make you own crop art. I got really into it and spent 2 hours there working with seeds. I learned a lot by just watching her make a sample for us to see. She place each seed down one at a time unlike my sprinkling technique. I put the glue there I wanted it, sprinkle the seeds on, and shake off the remains. She pieces had pictures of Curious George, Pop-Eyes, and several other cartoons figures, so I asked her if she made other works beside cartoon characters. She said no not really. There was a piece with a picture of Jesse Ventura, but besides that she mostly worked with political cartoons. Laura Melnich seems to have her own style and I really like the cartoon characters, but I would love to see what she could create without cartoons.