Gwen Melby
Gwen Melby is a printmaker and mixed media artist, born and raised in Morris, Illinois, who moved to Riverside County in 1976. After many years of enjoying art museums and galleries, Gwen began to explore making her own art. She joined the 52 Project at Riverside Art Museum and began taking classes and workshops. Gwen has taken workshops from Chick Curtis, Adeola Davies-Alyeloja, and Denise Kraemer, and she fell in love with printmaking, especially monoprinting. Gwen has shown her work at the Riverside Art Museum, the Riverside Community Arts Association, and Division 9 Gallery.
Artist's Statment:
I approach both viewing and creating art with a sense of curiosity and questioning. I love the process of making a monoprint. It provides the opportunity to explore and experiment in an endless number of ways, and there is always an element of surprise. I approach printmaking with a sense of play and experimentation. I may start with an idea, a feeling, a color, or a shape and see where it can take me. I'm constantly asking myself questions. What can I explore? What can this become? What hidden colors will come out? What's next? I hope viewers will bring their own questions to my works and explore their own feelings and interpretations.