Melinda Hannigan

I've had the good fortune to become friends with Melinda Hannigan who in addition to being a wonderful person, is an amazing - I repeat - amazing artist. She paints sections of big ships which as I've found in my work, provide infinite beautiful material: bleeding paint, rust spots and welds, faded symbols and miscellaneous scars and bruises they've acquired at ports all over the world.

Earlier this spring I was wandering Fishermen's Terminal looking for some of this industrial beauty, when I saw the side of an old hull with some painted-over markings and new symbols immediately above the old that reminded me of Melinda's work. I snapped a few shots and later that week took a print to  her studio. I thought she would like it but wasn't prepared for the reception it received...and a few months later was bowled over when she said she had decided to paint it for her fall show in Seattle.

We visited her Studio again late this summer and were able to see the piece - "New Life" - almost completed. Then, this past week, Kayce and I stopped by the opening of her October show at the Fetherston Gallery in Seattle to see not only "New Life" in it's finshed form, but many other beautiful pieces Melinda had been working on during the past year. 

The photographs of Melinda's work don't do it justice - you have to see the texture up close, the seams, the rust, the scars...and feel like you're looking at the a section of a ship that's been surgically removed and mounted in front of you!

You can also read more about Melinda and see more of her work at www.melindahannigan.com