A few months back I had the opportunity to meet an incredible artist, Melissa of Love Rose Studio. Melissa creates monthly chalk murals for Crossfit High Order in East Haddam. Each month I watched the murals change and I knew I had to meet this artist. I had the opportunity to sit down with Melissa as she created August's mural.

Leo is the Zodiac sign for August and this month would be dedicated to lions. Melissa chose a majestic male and female lion to represent the Goals and Achievements board for the gym members.

I am intrigued by how an artists mind works and what Melissa could see that I could not. I only saw the chalk board--blank, empty, and intimidating. She began sketching quick lines and soon the lines began to make sense with shadows, depth and dimension.

The murals take anywhere between two and four hours. Sometimes Melissa says she doesn't have a plan and will stare at the wall until an inspiration takes over. Often times she will lose track of time as she draws, everything disappearing while she works. This was no exception, Melissa became enveloped in her work, time flying as the Magic Mike soundtrack bumped in the background.

I watched as the mural took shape from a simple sketched outline to a detailed, intricate, dimensional drawing. A blank chalk wall turned into a beautiful tribute to majestic animals.

When she finished, and I saw an incredible piece of art.  As every artist does, Melissa found  some imaginary imperfection and perfected it, something that no one else would see.  Melissa says her favorite part is getting engulfed into her drawings and stepping back to see the result. As she stepped back she smiled, she finally saw what I had been staring at.

Melissa is an incredible artist and you can check out more of her work at Love Rose Studio on Facebook and IG @melissarose0414.
Follow along as I will continue to spotlight artists and models!

https://www.facebook.com/pg/loverosestudio