Backstreet Gallery & Cooperative

May Featured Artist - Melody Ashley ~ Metal & Tile Art

Our featured artist for May is Melody Ashley. She is one of Backstreet’s newest members and her work adds a fresh touch to the always eclectic gallery. Though she also works with mosaic, Melody’s current work is of cut metal. She fashions each piece into various forms representing mermaids, butterflies, dragonflies, fish and most lately whales. Melody has recently created a group of nine whales, carefully depicting a different species in each. She gives each piece an aged appearance and burnishes the details allowing the metal to shine through.

In Backstreet’s front yard Melody has installed one of her fabulous fountains made from discarded tanks. Working with her torch on the tank, she cuts and pulls out delicate butterflies, dragonflies and other creatures. The final results are whimsically delightful. You can see another example at Old Town Coffee on Bay Street.

Melody’s interest in art has been life long, as has been her concern for our environment. After earning her bachelor’s degree in Geography at the University of Arkansas, she went on for her master’s at the University of San Diego. Where she published several articles pertaining to the environment.

“After graduate school, I found that God had a sense of humor. I couldn’t get a job in my area of study,” Ashley says. So back to Arkansas she went, creating a landscaping business where she developed a love for “yard art.” Nine years later, she sold her company and began designing metal garden art then having it produced in Mexico. Her artwork has been sold and displayed from coast to coast.

September 11, 2001, prompted her to load up her truck with shop equipment and move to San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. While in Mexico, she created her mosaic tile and metal sculpture as well building environmentally sensitive homes from the ground up,“ treating the land as my canvas.” A spectacular site to see, her last house was built from old tires. All her houses were on the AARP Tour of Homes in San Felipe.

Come by soon to see this her unique display of work, or plan on attending her reception on Saturday May 10th from 3-5 p.m. to see Melody’s wonderful creations.

AFTER HOURS

After Hours Wednesday night, April 30th from 5 to 7 p.m. is our ever-popular After Hours event with music provided by Clean Slate, a musical trio coming from Newport, Oregon. They play a hot mix of old favorites and originals with a folk rock & bluesy-sound. You'll experience a fun UP tempo, pizzazz-energy with a slight jazzy-tilt; the three call their music, "Folk Rock'n Bluesic."