“I think you find creativity by allowing yourself to be emotionally touched by your surroundings and then transferring this to your chosen form of art,” Cole says.
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extensively at classes and workshops, including at a three-week program at the Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland California. Cole has lectured, led groups in large community art projects, donated works and has a line of cards, journals and prints that can be found in 250 stores in the Pacific Northwest. Her largest pieces can be found at the Spokane Convention Center, businesses and parks, and on a pedestrian bridge in Lewiston, Idaho. It is difficult to look away from her artwork. Perhaps it is because her work captures the beauty in the world that is, at times, hard to find. She hopes that her creations can make people stop their mad hurtle through life to pause, breathe and enjoy an experience. Her work is filled with dreams, a touch of hope for what she wishes upon the Earth, like free flowing rivers, clean oceans and territories marked only by beauty and color. Mid-September through mid-October, a series of Cole’s paintings of India will be featured at Manic Moon and More; on September 28th, she will be participating in the Little Spokane River Artist Studio Tour; in December she will have an exhibit at the Bozzi Collection. www.melissacole.com Jennifer LaRue profiles a different local artist in each issue of Spokane Coeur d’Alene Living. Spokane CDA • September • 2013
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