About the Artist:
Melissa Ayr paints with Air. Melissa Ayr, born in New York, is an abstract painter that paints with energy, emotion and color. She incorporates high energy, fluidity, growth and life. She changes her environment and uses the materials around her to create her art in the moment. From oils, to acrylics, to inks, to chalks, to watercolors, each painting is original and inspired by the energy of the moment and each piece has a story. Melissa’s art is mostly created using her fingers, hands, breasts, and her body. She will occasionally use brushes but prefers to push the edge of painting by using her body and an endless variation of objects and materials. Melissa continues to push the boundaries of abstract art just as those who influenced her. Melissa is inspired by the lives and art of Picasso, Pollock, Kandinsky, Frankenthaler, Chagall, Da Vinci, Monet, & Degas. Melissa has worked with some brilliant creative minds in the art world. While living in Lake Tahoe she did plein air paintings with David DA Russo a student of Pablo Picasso. Picasso taught David to create and create and create. Melissa learned that the number one rule in being an artist is to always create art.
Melissa states “I am here to create art. I am here to touch others with art. I am thankful to be alive and I paint with passion. The energy that flows throughout my body is put into my body of artwork. I am always striving to capture the feeling, depth and flow of the moment. My desire is for a person to relax and let their mind wander and refresh as they look at the artwork.“
Melissa’s art has been sought after for private collections and has a client base in France, UK, Sweden, Australia, China and the United States. Melissa was recently selected as one of ten artists in the United States to be represented at Art Basel in Miami & Art Platform in Los Angeles by Ruinart Champagne, a brand of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey. Over the summer Melissa Ayr was invited by the International Child Art Foundation to speak at the World Art Olympiad in Washington DC. The Art Olympiad is an event held every 4 years at the National Mall where Children from around the World can collaborate together to celebrate their creativity and imagination through the arts.
Melissa Ayr is committed to excellence in quality, color and composition and has made a natural pursuit of advancing the areas of abstraction, self expression, pure creativity and of course, expanding the art of painting. Melissa uses custom made and hand stretched canvas and the finest paints and mediums that allow the art to endure the test of time.
Melissa invites you to learn more about her passion, her unique style, and her dedication to her clients.
Awards / Honors:
- Artist Melissa Ayr has been selected as one of ten artists in the United States to be represented at Art Basel | Miami Beach & Art Platform – Los Angeles by Ruinart Champagne, a brand of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey.
- Melissa Ayr was recently commissioned to paint her style of art work on a Young Chang Baby Grand Piano which was sold by Heritage Auction house.
Education:
2013- San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
1999 College of Notre Dame, Art Therapy Training, Belmont, CA
1995 University of California, Berkeley, B.A., Berkeley, CA
Professional Experience:
1999-Present Scribbles Art, Business Owner / Art Instructor, San Francisco, CA
2008 YAT Gallery, Gallery Art Director, Keller, TX
2007 Tahoe Art League, Publicity Chair, South Lake Tahoe, CA
1998 Art for Recovery, Cancer/AIDS Patient Art Evangelist, San Francisco, CA
1994-1998 New Age Academy, Art Instructor, Berkeley, CA
1993 Museum of Children’s Art, Gallery Director / Art Instructor, Oakland, CA
Board Trustee:
2010-11 ICAF – International Child Art Foundation Advisory Board, Washington, DC
2007 Tahoe Art League, Publicity Chair, South Lake Tahoe, CA
Recognized Instructors:
2014 Reagan Louie, San Francisco Art Institute SFAI, San Francisco, CA
2014 Christopher Coppola, San Francisco Art Institute SFAI, San Francisco, CA
2013 Jeremy Morgan, San Francisco Art Institute SFAI, San Francisco, CA
2009 Edward Gilmore, Coeur d’Alene, ID
2008 Francois Arenas, Grapevine, TX
2007 Linda DeCurtis, Zephyr Cove, NV
2006 David “DA” Russo (Student of Picasso), South Lake Tahoe, CA
Professional Accreditation:
2011 Florence Biennale
2010 Liverpool Biennial
Selected Art Exhibition:
2020 Tunnels of the Mind – San Francisco Art Institute – SFAI Tower
2020 Sky – NYC LinkedIn Woman’s Show – Online
2020 Stroke of Luck – Raw Artists – 1015 Folsom, San Francisco
2020 Black & White – Local Maker Mart – 580 Green St, San Francisco
2020 Blowout – Superfine! – Fort Mason San Francisco
2018 Wine & Art – San Francisco Open Studios – Gratta Wines
2018 Art Takes SoHo – See|Me – NYC – Untitled Gallery
2018 Art Battle – San Francisco, CA – Live Art Competition
2017 Playground Global – Palo Alto, CA – Featured Exhibition – Silicon Valley
2016 Art Millennium – San Francisco, CA – Featured Exhibition – SOMA
2016 Divino – Milwaukee, WI – Featured Exhibition
2014 Art Exploration – Angora Hills, CA – Featured Exhibition – Kourosh Fine Art Gallery
2013 Concentrate – San Francisco, CA – Group Exhibition – SFAI
2013 Spectrum, New York, New York, NY – Javits Center – Group Exhibition
2013 The Red Zone, Gallery 85, San Jose, CA – Group Exhibition
2012 Red Dot, Miami Beach, FL – Group Exhibition – Traffucking
2012 Eighths, March Group Exhibition – Chelsea, New York
2011 Honey Bee, Biennale Internazionale dell’Arte Contemporanea di Firenze 2011
2011 10 Artists for Ruinart, Art Platform – Los Angeles
2011 SquAyr, The Artist Project New York / 10th Annual Architectural Digest Home Show, New York – Pier 92
2010 Be Ruinart, Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) / Ruinart Champagne, Miami Beach, FL
2010 Ayr Art Transformation Tour – Dallas, TX (Selected Contemporary Artist by Ruinart Champagne, a brand of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey.)
2010 Ocean Drive, NFL Super Bowl Charity Bash, Miami Beach, FL, – 47 Million Reasons
2009 Wild Thing, Wild9 World Congress, Yucatan, Mexico, – The Wild Foundation
2009 Rush, Gilmore Collective Art Gallery, Coeur d’Alene, ID
2009 Pure Creativity, Goodrich Gallery, Dallas, TX- Solo Show
2009 Fire Rainbow, Art251, Keller, TX
2009 Crimson Tide (Unfinished), America’s Extreme Home Makeover, Keller, TX, – YAT Gallery
2009 Benefit Exhibition, Texas Motor Speedway, Roanoke, TX, – Keller Chamber of Commerce
2009 Gallery Exhibition, Grapevine Main Street Art Gallery, Grapevine, TX
2008 Exhibition, The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (The MAC), McKinney, TX
2008 Artists of Texas, City Hall, Keller, TX
2008 Benefit Exhibition, Sierra Nevada Active 20-30 Club – Fashion Show, South Lake Tahoe
2008 Award Winning Invitation, The Great Trail Drive, Fort Worth, TX, – Rocky Top Therapy
2008 Benefit Exhibition, Scottish Rite Cathedral, Dallas, TX, – Brian’s House
2008 Benefit Exhibition, Texas Motor Speedway, Roanoke, TX, – Speedway Children’s Charities
2008 Exhibition, Lone Star Park, Grand Prairie, TX, – Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund
2008 Benefit Exhibition, Gaylord Texan, Grapevine, TX, – Grace Gala
2008 True Colors, House of Colors Fine Art Gallery, Grapevine, TX
2008 Art of Jazz, MontBleu Casino Resort, South Lake Tahoe
2007 Join the Vibration, Galerie Blu’u Art Gallery, South Lake Tahoe
2007 Benefit Exhibition, Edgewood Tahoe, South Lake Tahoe, – American Century Celebrity Golf Championship
2007 Exhibition, Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village, NV, – Tahoe Art League
2007 Exhibition, Village Art Gallery at Heavenly, South Lake Tahoe
2007 Exhibition, Galerie Noir Art Gallery, South Lake Tahoe
2007 Exhibition, Sand Harbor at Incline Village, Incline Village, NV
2007 Benefit Exhibition and Installation , Tennessee State University Women’s Center, Nashville, TN
2007 Volunteers in Art Exhibition– Untitled, Nevada Museum of Art (NMA), Reno, NV
2006 Benefit Exhibition, Edgewood Tahoe, South Lake Tahoe, – American Century Celebrity Golf Championship
2002 Falling, Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco, CA, – Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
1999 University Installation Sculpture ATR, College Of Notre Dame, Belmont CA
1999 Gallery Exhibition, The Wiegand Gallery, Belmont CA
1997 Women’s Group Exhibition of Art and Self Expression, The Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
1997 Exhibition, National Institute of Health, Washington DC, – Art for Recovery
1997 Exhibition, Mount Zion Hospital, San Francisco, CA, – Art for Recovery
1995 University of California at Berkeley, Sculpture Instillation on Campus, Berkeley CA
1994 Gallery Exhibition, Berkeley Art Museum (BAM), Berkeley, CA